


A History of Crime

by beautiful_preservation91



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-29 22:10:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11450064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautiful_preservation91/pseuds/beautiful_preservation91
Summary: Dr. Elizabeth Jansen understands nothing about science. She is squeamish at the site of blood. How in the hell does she expect to be in a relationship with a guy who does all that for a living?





	1. What Is Wrong With Me??

The two men stood outside the building, staring up at the sign telling the name of the place. “When was the last time you were in one of these?” Nick Stokes asks Warrick Brown.

Warrick lets out a chortle, shaking his head. “Not probably since I was a kid…you?”

“Few months ago, actually,” Nick says, hiking his bag higher up on his shoulder. Warrick looks to him, raising an eyebrow. “Thought it would impress this girl…didn’t work…” Warrick shakes his head again, laughing. “Literally left halfway through the exhibit.”

“That’s cold.” Warrick claps his partner on the shoulder before jerking his head towards the entrance. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

The two both let out a sigh before walking into the Women of Nevada History Museum. They walk past the empty front desk and start wandering around, looking for an employee. As they walk around, an elaborate purple dress catches Nicks’ eye. Warrick rolls his eyes as Nick stops to look at it. Something about the fabric was alluring to him and he could help but reach out to touch it. “I thought it was common sense to not touch artifacts at museums?” A female voice coming from behind them pulls their attention away from the display. When they turn around, a woman with long, brown hair was standing here, arms crossed over her chest. By her professional looking attire, a grey pencil skirt and sleeveless navy top, they assumed she worked there. Plus, the annoyed look she was giving them was a good indicator too. “Do not touch the artifacts…please.”

“Sorry about that ma’am,” Nicky says, attempting to give her a charming smile to placate her. The smile falters a little when she arches an eyebrow in response. “Um…anyway, do you work here?”

“I do,” she says, moving her hands and placing them on her hips. “I’m Elizabeth Jansen, museum administrator.”

“Ms. Jansen, I’m- “

“Doctor,” she cuts Warrick off. The two men look at each other in confusion. “It’s Dr. Jansen. I have my PhD. So, it’s _Dr._ Jansen.”

“Okay…Dr. Jansen, my bad.” Warrick says. “I’m Warrick Brown and this is Nick Stokes, we’re with the Las Vegas Crime Lab.”

“Geez,” Elizabeth says, shifting from one foot to the other. “What the hell did I do?” Both men stare at her with blank looks, not picking up on her joke. “It was just…I just—anyway, what can I help you with?”

Nick chuckled to himself at her frazzled demeanor when they didn’t pick up on her joke. “We just have a couple question for you about a former employee.” Nick says. He reaches into his black satchel and pulls out a file, flipping it open to show her the picture paper clipped to the front. “Joshua- “

“Joshua Baxter,” She says, peering at the picture of the scrawny pale, bald man. “Yeah…I know Joshua.”

“How long ago was he release from working here?” Warrick asks, getting a notebook and pen out from his back pocket.

“Joshua was fired about a month ago.” Elizabeth tells them. She holds a finger up, beckoning them to follow her. The two men follow her as she starts to walk through the museum towards the back. “Joshua was a ‘go-to’ guy here; he did just about everything. Maintenance, security, worked the gift shop…”

“So, why’d you fire him?” Nick asks as they reach Elizabeth’s office. “Sounds like he was a pretty well liked- “

“Oh, no, he was not well liked.” Elizabeth says with a humorless laugh. The two CSI’s stand in front of her desk as she walks around it, getting into a file cabinet. After a moment of searching, she pulls out a file, handing it to Warrick. “He was an ass. Straight up jerk. He was hired to do maintenance but just did the other stuff anyway.”

Warrick raises an eyebrow as he starts flipping through the file containing numerous complaints and transcripts from meeting between Elizabeth, Joshua, and another employee. “Then why did he do all this other stuff?”

“Cause the administrator before me was his drinking buddy and let him do whatever.” Elizabeth says, sitting down in her chair; Nick and Warrick follow suit and sit down as well. “Joshua was a misogynistic asshole who was constantly insulting staff and volunteers and would also give false information to visitors as well as spreading anti-female rhetoric to visitors…in a Women’s History Museum.”

Both men stare at her a little stunned. They knew from their investigation that Baxter was an asshole…but this was a whole new level. “Woah…” Nick says. “So, if he did all that why didn’t you fire him earlier? Or even report him to the police?”

Elizabeth rolls her eyes at Nick. “I did try to fire him…multiple times. And the one time I did try to report him the officer told me—and I quote: ‘shouldn’t be so sensitive’ and that there was nothing concrete to charge him with. It was my word against his.”

“Son of a bitch,” Nick mutters under his breath.

“Eventually had to hire and bigger and scarier security guard to keep Joshua away.” Elizabeth says, smiling to herself. “Guy was with LVPD for thirty-five years. Would trust him with my life. Why are you asking me about Joshua anyway?”

“Ongoing investigation,” Warrick says.

Elizabeth nods her head as the three of them stand up. “I’m gonna take that as cue to stay with a friend the next few nights then…” Elizabeth says. “If he possibly killed someone—which I know you didn’t say, but it’s so like him to do it—I’m not staying by myself until he’s behind bars.”

“Does Baxter know where you live?” Nick says, concerned for the woman. He was already starting to crush on her. “If he made threats against you we could get an officer— “

“I don’t know if he knows where I live,” Elizabeth says, waving a hand at Nick. “But I tend to way overthink things though so…I’ll use this as an excuse to stay with my brother for a few days.”

“Alright, if you say so,” Nick says. He ignores Warrick looking back and forth between the two, eyeing them both. “If you want, we can give you a call…keep you updated.”

Elizabeth stares at him for a moment. She couldn’t tell if he was flirting…or being polite; she was horrible at telling the difference between the two. “Okay, yeah.” She grabs one of her business cards off her desk, handing it to the handsome CSI. She admitted it to herself…she found him extremely good looking. “My number for here is on there…but if for some reason I’m not here the staff know how to get a hold of me. Actually— “ She snatches the card back from Nick, catching him off guard. Elizabeth grabs a pen from the faux marble penholder and neatly writes her cell number on the back of the card. She hands it back to Nick who smiles at her before placing the card in the pocket of his vest. “My personal number. Easier to get ahold of me that way.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jansen.” Nick says. “We’ll let you know what happens.”

She thanks the two men as they turn and leave the office. Once they are out of earshot of the office, Warrick starts in on Nick. “Got her number and everything…” he teases him. Nick shakes his head as they exit the museum. “Now don’t get shy on me now man…’we could get an officer— ‘”

“If this guy threatened her then he could come for her next,” Nick says as they approach Warrick’s Tahoe. “I was only being polite…concerned about the well being of an innocent citizen.”

“Yeah…a good lookin’ ‘innocent citizen’,” Warrick says with a snort of laughter. He knew how his friend worked; he could see the heart-eyed-southern-charm act he was pulling out on the woman. The two men get in the Tahoe, not saying another word about Dr. Elizabeth Jansen.

* * *

 

“So, when you say good looking…just how good looking do you mean?” David, Elizabeth's brother asks her. She graciously take the glass of wine he had poured for her as he sits down on the couch next to her. David had easily agreed to let her stay with him especially with the promise of a juicy story.

“Out of that whole story—a crazy ex-employee who possibly killed someone, him having threatened me, two CSI’s questioning me—and all you caught was my off comment about them being good looking?” Elizabeth says, arching an eye brow at him. David just nods his head, waiting for more. She shakes her head in amusement at him. “Yeah, they were good looking. Both of them. The one, the African-American guy was good looking in a ‘take you out, wine and dine you, then fuck you silly’ sort of way and the other one—the one with the accent was good looking in a ‘take you out, wine and dine you, kiss you goodnight on the doorstep, and then fuck you silly on the third date’.”

“Damn,” David says into his wine glass. “Give me brother number one. I’m too impatient to wait for a third date.”

“Yeah, you get that from Momma,” Elizabeth says before taking a drink of her own wine.

“You are just every bit as impatient as I am.” He responds, rolling his eyes. “You’re just politer…like Mom.”

“That is true.” Elizabeth nods her head. Her heart gives a twinge as she lays her head back on the couch cushion, a corner of her mouth quirking up. “I miss them.”

David scoots closer to his sister before wrapping an arm around her shoulder; she lays her head on his shoulder in turn. “I miss them too.” The tow of them take a sip of our wine, a silent toast to their deceased moms. “You know they’d have a word or two to say about this whole situation.”

Elizabeth laughs, the sadness disappearing from her voice. “Mom would probably tell me to come home to St. Louis and Momma would tell me to go after Baxter myself and ask out the CSI afterwards.”

“Too true.” David also says with a laugh. “Which you should—ask out the CSI.”

“Which one?” Elizabeth asks David with another laugh. They both knew she wasn’t actually going to ask him out; she had only ask out one guy before in her life and it was mild disaster. She may be an independent, self-declared feminist, but when an attractive man was around her brain seemed to fritz out. But it was fun to speculate.

“I think the one with the accent sounds more your speed.” David says. Elizabeth nods her head as they both settle in on the couch to watch TV.

A couple hours later Elizabeth's phone rings, displaying an unknown number. David and her share a look before answering it. “Hello? This is Elizabeth…”

“Dr. Jansen, this is Nick Stokes with the Las Vegas Crime Lab…we spoke earlier?”

Elizabeth stands up abruptly, flapping a hand in front of her; David looking at her like she was crazy. “Oh, hello Nick Stokes with the Las Vegas Crime Lab.” She shakes her head, scoffing quietly to herself; she knew she sounded crazy repeating his title back to him, but now David was on the same page as her. He scurries over to her, grabbing onto the phone so that he could listen to both sides of the conversation. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”

“Yeah, but at least it’s good news…Baxter fessed up.” He tells her. “He’s behind bars…so he shouldn’t give you problem.”

“Thank you so much.” Elizabeth says. She felt a wave of relief at the news; she didn't want to admit out loud that Baxter on the loose and possibly homicidal freaked her out. “Thank your partner for me too.”

“I will do that.” Nick says. “Did you um—did you find somewhere to stay? I mean, I know it’s a moot point now but— “

“Oh, yeah, yeah, I did.” Elizabeth says, walking around in a small circle. David follows beside her, having to stoop down to match his sister's height. “My brother’s door is always open so…I got to regale him with the tale of the crazy ex-employee.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He says. 

An awkward pause starts to settle on the conversation, so Elizabeth blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “As a, you know, thank you. You and Mr. Brown are welcome to come back to the museum anything and I’ll give you a tour…free of charge.” As soon as I said it I regretted it. David was laying on the couch, hand over his mouth covering his loud laughs.

Nick chuckles a little as Elizabeth dies inside. She sinks down to her knees and lays on the ground, reveling in her embarrassment. David walks backward to the couch, falling on it laughing into his hand. “Yeah, I’ll mention it to Warwick…we may take you up on that.”

“Okay, great,” Elizabeth says, staring up at her brother's ceiling. She tried as hard as she could to keep the sarcasm out of her voice but it was just naturally coming out. “Just stop by anytime.”

“Will do. You have a nice night Dr. Jansen.” Nick says.

“You too CSI Stokes.” Elizabeth hang up the phone and tosses it a couple feet from me before she could say anything else. “ _oh. My. God. What is wrong with me??”_ The rest of the night was spent with Elizabeth wallowing in her embarrassment and David randomly breaking out in giggles every time he remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update 8/6/2017: So I was working on new chapters and getting really stuck. Oddly enough I found the words come easier if I'm writing in third person instead of first...riddle me that! So, I went back and changed the end of this chapter and chapter two to third person pov. The story is still the same though! Enjoy!!


	2. If You Wanna Know the Ladies, Gotta Know Their History

Three loud knocks on her door make Elizabeth jump, almost knocking over the full coffee cup she had been reaching for. Before she can tell the person to come in, they come in anyway, laughing at her. “I knew that’d make you jump.” Sam, the director of curatorial and her friend says.

“Did you slip up and take your mean-ass pills this morning instead of your good-friend pills?” Elizabeth snaps at her. She wasn’t really mad…just annoyed that she almost spilled her coffee.

“Let me guess, you almost spilled the coffee?” Sam says, laughing to herself as she sits down in a chair across the desk from her friend. Elizabeth gives her an annoyed look in answer as she wipes away the little bit of coffee that had made its way over the side of the mug. “Oh, that just makes it even better then.”

“Did you come in here just to rile me up…or with a specific purpose?” Elizabeth asks Sam, folding her hands on the desk.

“You know if you weren’t so dependent on that acidic liquid then you wouldn’t be in such a bad mood right now…” she says, not getting to the point of her visit. Sam always ribbed Elizabeth about her coffee; she thought it was disgusting and never drank anything but water.

“Ah, okay, just in here to annoy me then.” Elizabeth says, leaning back in her chair. “And my dependency on that beautiful black liquid is directly correlated to my mood, which you are souring at an exponential rate this morning.”

“Geez…” Sam says, holding her hands up to admit defeat. “Alright, I give up on the coffee thing…for now. But I didn’t come in here just to annoy you. You have someone here requesting a tour from you.”

“What the hell Sam!” Elizabeth says, jumping out of her seat. Now even more annoyed, she slips her heels back on before making her way around her desk, heading for the door. “You don’t keep visitors waiting like this! You know that-“

“Oh, no we’re keeping this guy waiting.” Sam says, stepping in front of her and using her body to block the door. Elizabeth starts to ask her again what the hell is wrong with her when she cuts her off. “It’s that hot CSI you were telling me about—“

Elizabeth's mouth snaps shut, her bad mood immediately going away and replaced by nerves. “Oh…”

“Yeah,” Sam says, smiling at her friend conspiratorially. “So, I’m going to go back out there and tell him you’re in the middle of something. Then-“

“No, no, no,” Elizabeth says, shaking my head. “I’m not playing any games—“

“But—“

“No, Sam.” she says again, letting out a sigh. “He is here for a tour. We treat all visitors the same.”

Sam visibly starts pouting as Elizabeth moves around her and finally walk out of the office. “Even the insanely hot, rugged, southern boy ones?” Sam whispers to her as they make their way to the front.

Elizabeth lightly pushes her on the shoulder, silently telling her to leave her alone and get back to work. Her firend gives her one more Cheshire-cat smile before veering to the right and going to her office. As she nears the front, Elizabeth spots Nick Stokes standing by the front desk, looking at the rack cards. It had been almost a week since they had spoken. When he hadn't shown up, she had written him off as never coming in. “Mr. Stokes,” she says, capturing his attention. He sets down the card he had been looking at and turns to look at her. _Damn he’s good looking,_  Elizabeth thinks to herself _._ “And here I thought you weren’t going to take me up on my offer. Is your partner not joining you?” Honestly she didn’t care that Warrick Brown wasn’t there.

“Nah,” he says, stepping a couple steps closer to her and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “He’s not much of a museum guy…”

“You are?” Elizabeth had to admit that shocked her; most men in their age group (she had guessed that Nick was at most a few years older than her) did not like to come to museums…especially a women’s history museum.

“To be honest…not really.” Nick says. Elizabeth crosses her arms over her chest and rise an eyebrow at him. “But, when we were here last time…it looked interesting, thought I’d come back.”

He smiles at her as she drops her arms, placing her hands in the pockets of her skirt. “Fair enough…appreciate the honesty.” Elizabeth says, smiling back at him. “Just remember…no touching the artifacts.”

* * *

The two spend the next hour walking through the museum. Nick was smart guy…like really smart. He asked thoughtful, insightful questions and seemed thoroughly interested in the subjects; particularly Annabelle Plunkett who is believed to be the first policewoman in Las Vegas. “Wow, can you imagine being a policewoman in the forties?” Nick says as they head back towards the front desk. “I see what they go through today…but back then…damn.”

“She was a formidable woman.” Elizabeth says, nodding her head. “Had to be.”

“I have five sisters plus a mom who is a lawyer…I know a thing or two about formidable women.” Nick says with a chuckle.

She nods her head again, tucking some hair behind her ear. “Ah, so that explains a lot.” Nick asks her what she means. “Come on…name one of your buddies that would come in here, of their own volition, and give the same attention and thought you did.”

“Okay, I see your point.” He says, holding his hands up in defeat. Elizabeth stares at him for a moment as he looks down, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. Finally, he looks back up. “Sorry it took me so long to come back in…work has been crazy…”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” Elizabeth says. She wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, it wasn’t like she had been waiting by the door for him to come in or anything.

“I was wondering though, um—“ He clears his throat as he seems to plant both feet on the ground firmly. He looked like he was bracing himself for something. Right before he speaks, it dawns on her what he’s about to ask. “I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me?”

* * *

 “So, what’d she say?” Warrick asks.

Nick lets out a sigh, shutting his locker door with a little too much force. “She said yes…we’re going to dinner Friday night.”

“Well that’s good.” Warrick says, peering at Nick as he sits down on the bench behind them. He turns around, leaning against the lockers as he stares down at his friend. “So why do you look like someone pissed in your cheerios?”

“Because man,” Nick says. He presses his palms together, rubbing them against each other in frustration. “I sounded like a damn teenager.”

“Oof…Ladies-Man Stokes was nervous?” Warrick says.

“Yeah…I was.” Nick admits. He stands up and follows Warrick out of the locker room. They both start heading towards the break room to get some coffee before starting their shift. “This girl man…she…she’s something else. She’s hot, smoking hot obviously. But she’s also smart as hell, opinionated, kind, thoughtful—“

“Sounds like a rare creature.” A voice from behind the two men make them stop and turn around. Greg Sanders stops also, having just come out of the lab and heard the end of Nick’s statement. “New girlfriend?”

“Nah, having dinner with her on Friday.” Nick answers.

“Sounds hot.” Greg says as the three men start walking again. “Where’d you meet her?”

“Museum,” Warrick answers. “And I can vouch for the hot comment.”

“Watch it you two.” Nick says, starting to get defensive.

“What museum?” Greg asks. Both of the other men look at him with a confused look. “What? I’m a man of many interest. I like museums.”

“Women of Nevada History Museum.” Nick answers him. “Had to go there last week to get info on a suspect.”

“Aw don’t tell me it’s the director you’re going out with.” Greg says. Nick gives him an incredulous look as Warrick laughs when they enter the break room. “I went there a couple months back. If you wanna know the ladies, gotta know their history.”

“And do you know Dr. Elizabeth Jansen’s history?” Warrick asks, now thoroughly amused by the conversation. He glances over at Nick who is staring down Greg.

“Um,” Greg looks at Nick nervously despite the fact he had nothing to be nervous about. “No. I was just looking around the exhibit space; saw her and asked at the front desk who she was. That was it.” Nick shoots Greg daggers but doesn’t say anything else as Grissom and Catherine comes into hand out assignments.


	3. Highfalutin Place

“And you know if you get a weird vibe from the guy just text me the code word.” David tells Elizabeth over the phone.

She nods her head even though he couldn’t see. “I know.” She tells him. “I don’t know how you’d be able to help since you are at work.” David was an ER resident at Desert Palms; there was no way he’d be able to leave to save his sister from a bad date. In less than fifteen minutes Nick Stokes was supposed to pick her up for a date. She had no clue what they were doing, but she was still excited. David was less so…more nervous for his sister.

“We’d figure it out smart-ass.” David says. “Now, give me a rundown of the outfit for approval.”

Elizabeth rolls her eyes as she move to stand in front of the full-length mirror by the front door. “The navy shift dress you got me for Christmas last year with a light blue belt and nude pumps.”

“Okay, good.” David says.

“I am twenty-seven…I know how to dress myself for a date.” She says, walking back towards the kitchen to get her clutch.

“Only because I taught you.” David says.

“That is true,” She says, switching contents from my purse to my clutch. “I do have the best dressed brother in Las Vegas.”

“You flatter me.” He says; she could hear the smugness in his voice. “Now, get off the phone with me and go enjoy your date.”

“Alright, alright,” She says as she places the last item in the clutch. “I’ll text you when I’m home.”

“I expect a full report. Love you ‘til beyond.”

“Love you ‘til beyond.” Elizabeth shakes her head as she ends the call and place the phone on silent before putting it in my clutch. The siblings had said that phrase to each other since they were kids, a habit they picked up from their moms. It sounded odd, but they both meant it and the phrase held sentimental value to them. Not a minute later, there’s a knock at the door. She grabs the clutch and head for the door, flipping off lights as she goes. When she opens the door, she’s slightly taken back by the guy standing there. Nick Stoke cleaned up _nice._ He was wearing a suit jacket with a tie and somehow looking even hotter. “Hey…”

“Hey…” They both just stare at each other, not ashamed of the fact they were blatantly checking each other out. “You—um, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth says, finally breaking out of the trance. Grabbing the keys off the nearby table and flicking off the last light, she shuts and locks the door behind her before joining Nick to walk down the hallway.

* * *

The restaurant was very upscale…and Elizabeth could not feel more uncomfortable. The pair hadn’t even made it to the table and she felt antsy. Nick seemed to also. “I’ve heard about this place.” Elizabeth says. Nick looks down at her, nodding his head. “A donor to the museum…he told me about it once.”

“I hope it’s as good as I’ve heard.” Nick says, looking around. Elizabeth nods her head. She didn’t normally eat at places like this unless it was with a donor from the museum.

“I’m sure it is.” They had been waiting for the table Nick had reserved for twenty minutes now. Placing a hand on her stomach, Elizabeth feels it growling. Nick holds up a finger towards her, pursing his lips before going up to the hostess. When he comes back, he looks aggravated. “Let me guess…still going to be a little while?”

“Yeah.” Nick says. His nostrils flare as he lets out a deep breath. “We can wait, if you want. Or I know another place we could go to—“

“Give me the valet ticket.” Elizabeth says, holding out her hand. He looks at her confused for a second until he finally reaches in his pocket and pulls out the little ticket. Elizabeth had a crazy idea, one that would make or break the date; she just hoped that Nick would find her totally crazy. As he places it in her hand, she closes her hand around his. He looks at her a little startled until we lock eyes and his face soothes out. “Trust me…I have an idea.”

* * *

“This…” Nick says as they both step out of the truck. As the two meet at the front of the vehicle, Nick pushes back his suit jacket, placing his hands on his hips. He was staring at the sign for the place with an incredulous look. “This is where you want to eat?” Elizabeth nods her head, smiling widely. He shakes his head in amusement as she starts to walk towards the entrance. “And here I cashed in about ten favors to get a table at that last place…”

“Well, I appreciate the effort.” Elizabeth says as he catches up with me. He shakes his head again as he opens the door to Ted’s Sports and Burger Spot. When they walk in Ted waves at her from the bar. Nick follows behind her as they approach the bar. “Evening Teddy.”

“Doc,” he says, wiping down a glass. “Blues aren’t playin’ tonight. And you’re looking pretty fancy…” I jerk my head back towards Nick who was standing slightly behind me. “Ah…okay then…”

Elizabeth looks back at Nick over her shoulder before giving Ted a sly smile. “Teddy owns the place. Menu is over the bar.” Nick nods his head before looking up at the menu. “I will take my usual.” Ted nods his head before Nick orders his food too. When Teddy walks back to the kitchen the pair go over and sit at a table near a far wall.

“Do you usually come here then?” Nick asks. He takes off his suit jacket, placing it on chair. Elizabeth feels her heartrate raise as he rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. _Damn_ , he could honestly look good in anything.

“Yeah,” she says, breaking out of a trance for the second time that night. “Um, he plays the games for my favorite teams. So, I come here to watch. Plus he makes a damn good turkey burger, so…”

“You a sports fan?” Nick says, looking impressed. She nods her head as one of the waitresses brings over our beers. “Who you rootin’ for?”

“St. Louis Cardinals and Blues.” She tells him. He raises an eyebrow in surprise. “I was raised in St. Louis. My mom was a huge sports fan; rubbed off on me.”

Nick smiles as he sits his beer back down after taking a drink. “How’d you get out to Las Vegas?”

She lets out a sigh as she lean back in my chair. She should’ve known that this question would come up; but it was still a sensitive subject. “After my moms died, my brother wanted to get as far away from St. Louis as he could. So, he transferred his residency out here. I didn’t want him to be out here alone…so I followed.”

“Oh…” Nick says. She watches him as he processes what she had just said. It was always a gamble, how people would handle the fact that Elizabeth had been raised by two women. “Did you say—“

“Yeah, two moms.” she says. Elizabeth keeps her face blank. She wasn’t going to react until he did.

Finally, a corner of his mouth quirks up in a grin as he nods his head. “So…was your mom just a sports fan or did she play any?”

* * *

Damn…only the first date and Elizabeth thinks she’s falling for Nick Stokes. Her heels were kicked off and her feet were propped up on a chair from the next table over. Nick and her were laughing and talking, swapping stories from childhood and college. “Why does it not surprise me you were a Greek?” she says between laughs.

“Hey now!” Nick says, holding his hands up. He had discarded his tie long ago. An outsider watching them would think they were old friends instead of on a first date. “Don’t judge me—“

“I am so judging you for that!” She places her feet on the ground and lean across the table slightly. “I am allowed to judge you for that because the only frat boys I ever dealt with were total d-bags.”

“Well not all of us were like that.” Nick says, also leaning on the table. “Some of us were fine, upstanding young men who exemplified the values set forth by our fraternity.” She shakes her head and laughs as she leans back and takes a drink of water. They each had only had a couple beers, but then had switched to water. “Alright. Your turn: something I would never expect from you.”

“Hmmm,” Elizabeth taps a finger to her chin, mocking being deep in thought. “I think I may win this considering that you being in a frat so totally fits into that all-American Texas-boy thing you got going on—“

“Now, I didn’t realize this was a competition!” Nick says, pointing a finger towards her but not really at her.

“Life is a competition, Nicholas Stokes.” she says with a dramatic flourish of her hand. Nick rolls his eyes and chortles jokingly. “Anyway, fun fact number two thousand and one about me is that I was actually born in France…Paris to be exact.” Nick’s jaw drops a tiny bit. “True story. It was the seventies…there wasn’t much regulation on flying while pregnant. So, Mom and Momma had this tripped planned for a while and despite the fact that Momma was eight months pregnant with me they still went.”

“Okay, yeah, _if_ this was a competition I have to admit that would win.” Nick says. Elizabeth pumps her fists into the air in mock celebration. Nick laughs loudly as she brings her hands back down, joining in with his laughter.

“Sorry to break up the giggle fest love birds,” Teddy says, walking up to their table. They both look up to see him standing next to the table. Both Nick and Elizabeth sober their laughter. “But we’re closing up…time to move the party elsewhere.”

She glances down at her watch; it was a little past midnight. “Holy crap Teddy. I’m so sorry.” Nick also apologizes as they both stand up. Elizabeth slips her shoes back on and moves the chair back to its proper table as Nick hands Teddy some money for the food and drinks. They both tell Teddy goodbye as they head towards the exit. “So, let me ask you a question…” she says to Nick as they near his truck. He asks what it is as he opens the passenger door. She stops before climbing in and turns towards him. She was suddenly hyperaware of how close they were standing. “Why did you bring me to that first restaurant?”

Nick lets out a sigh as his hand drops from the vehicle door. “Obviously I was trying to impress you.” He says, smiling widely at me. “I just…I don’t know. Thought it was more your speed.”

“My speed?” Elizabeth says. The tension between the two of them was growing thicker with each second. Without even realizing it, both of them had moved even closer to each other. “You think you know my speed?”

“Nah,” Nick says, placing a hand on her hip. She moves so that she is flush against him. “But I’d like to find out…” His other hand comes up and lands on her neck, gently guiding her face until thier lips connect.

 _Holy. Shit._ was all Elizabeth could think in that moment. Something clicked inside each of them as her arms went up around his neck and his moved to circle around her, his hands splayed across her back. Neither of them couldn’t tell how long the kiss lasted, but when it was over she almost immediately pulled him back in for a second one that last even longer. The third one would have lasted even longer if a beeper sitting in the truck hadn’t gone off. Nick lets out a frustrated sigh as he explains that it’s work and needs to check it. Elizabeth stands by the Tahoe as he reaches in the vehicle and grabs it. “I got to go in…”

“To work?”

Nick nods his head as he lets out a sigh again. “They need all hands on-deck for a case.” They look at each other for a moment until Nick leans down and places a quick kiss on her lips again. “I think I’m going to like this speed by the way…”

* * *

As soon as she shuts the door to her apartment, Elizabeth leans back against the door. She knew she was blushing and grinning like a schoolgirl. “Well it’s about time you got home.” she hears. She snaps out of her little world of happiness to see David standing in front of her, stirring something in a mixing bowl. “Look at Miss Queenie…staying out until all hours of the night. What would Mom and Momma say about that?”

“What in the hell are doing here and what are you mixing?” she asks him, pushing herself away from the door.

Elizabeth follows him into the kitchen and sits down at the small blue table that was pushed against the wall. “I am making chocolate chip cookies because I was bored.” He says, placing the bowl on the counter and starting to dole out portions onto a baking sheet. “And I am bored because they sent me home ‘cause they overstaffed us. So, I came here to hear all about my baby sister’s first date with sexy-ass CSI. And here she is…rolling in at one in the morning!”

She rolls her eyes. David was only a few months older than her yet he still called her his baby sister all the time; and technically she was born before he was adopted. Their moms had adopted David when he was three years old. It had been tricky, since gay marriage was far from being legal at the time. To make it happen, their moms had to pose as two good friends living together rather than partners. “Geez! Even Mom and Momma wouldn’t get this worked up about me being out late—“

“What the hell were you doing anyway?” He slams the spatula down on the counter as he spins around to face her, his mouth agape. “Did Mr. fuck-you-silly-on-the-third-date fuck you silly on the first date??”

“No, he did not.” Elizabeth remains calm, feeling tired now. She didn’t really understand why he was getting so worked up about this. Maybe he was living vicariously through her love life; an E.R. residency didn’t lend well to an active love life. She kicks her shoes off and tuck an ankle under the other leg, leaning back against the wall. “We went to Ted’s to eat…lost track of time talking…”

“He took you to Ted’s…on a first date?” David says. He rolls his eyes as he turns back to his baking. “Boy has got some damn nerve…”

“Technically I took him there.” She explains. “He took me took a different restaurant but they overbooked the tables. It was some highfalutin place anyway. So…we went to Ted’s.”

David laughs as he slides the baking sheet into the oven. “Other than eating at a greasy sports bar…how did it go?” The huge smile she gives David says it all. “I guess good then.”

“Holy shit, Davie…this guy is…” She lets out a legitimate squeal.

“Damn…must be legit if you’re this excited about him.” David says, sitting in the chair across the table from her. “You’ve never acted this way after any date with any guy.”

“I dropped the moms bomb on him.” She says. David looks at her with wide eyes. “And you know what he said…’was your mom just a sports fan or did she play?’ It didn’t even phase him!”

“Well…if you don’t marry him…I will.” David says. They both laugh a little before turning they’re attention to the oven and watching the cookies bake as she tells him about the rest of the date.


	4. Damn You Are Good Looking

“Damn…you are as good looking as she said.” Nick hears right after hearing the curtain being pulled back near the hospital bed he was sitting on. Earlier in the night a suspect had lingered at the scene and jumped him, resulting in a nasty cut above his eye and a trip to Desert Palm E.R.

He looks up at the slender African-American man standing in front of him, pushing back the sleeves of his white lab coat, with a confused look. “Excuse me?” He was taken back by the doctor’s comment, not sure how to react.

“Of course you don’t know who I am.” He says, pulling the curtain back shut behind him. “I’m Dr. Jansen…the other Dr. Jansen; the one you’re not sleeping with.” Nick still stares at the man…not sure what he was talking about. The doctor rolls his eyes as he moves over the sink and starts washing his hands. “I’m Elizabeth’s brother: David. And yes, before you ask, I was adopted which accounts for your confusion about how a girl as white as my sister could have a brother for a brother. So, I’m also guessing she didn’t tell you that detail.”

“No…she didn’t—“

“Very much like her.” David says. He grabs Nick’s head and starts examining the cut. “It’s not that she didn’t tell you intentionally…she probably just didn’t think it was a big deal. Now, telling you about our moms…that was a big deal. And you passed that with flying colors by the way.”

“I can see the family resemblance now.” Nick says. He lets out a groan as David pulls and pushes at the wound to see its depth. “You both get straight to the point…don’t mince words.”

“Yeah.” David says, reaching over for the supplies to clean the cut. “Momma would say it’s a nature vs. nurture thing.” Nick and Elizabeth had been dating for a about a month now. They were scheduled to meet for breakfast after Nick’s shift where he was going to ask her if she’d like to be exclusive. He had a feeling they already were…but he still wanted to ask.

“I’m supposed to be meeting her for breakfast in a couple hours.” Nick says as David really gets to work.

“I better get you cleaned up better than new then.” David says. “My sister hates blood. Will literally just about pass out if she sees it…will definitely pass out if it’s her own.”

“Yeah, she mentioned that one time.” Nick says with a little laugh. He glances up at David with a grin, careful not to move his face. “So…she really said I was good lookin’?”

David smirks as he pauses his work for a moment. “That’s how she first described you…and your partner.” He says, getting back to work. “She said, and I quote, ‘a good looking guy with an accent and a good looking guy with muscles for days’.”

“Woah,” Nick says, leaning back from David. David gives him an exasperated look. “She said Warrick was good looking too?” David rolls his eyes as he grabs Nick’s head again and gets to work again. “Sorry.”

“Yeah just don’t do it again.” David says. “I am an artist and I am creating a masterpiece here so my sister keeps thinking this face is good looking. So, keep still.” Nick mutters his understanding and stays still. “She likes you a lot.” David says after a couple minutes. By that time, he was done cleaning and dressing the wound. Luckily it only needed a couple steri-strips and not stitches. He had the feeling that was the case, but department policy said he had to go get checked out. Nick leans back slightly as David takes a step back. “My sister…she likes you a lot. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”

Nick feels his heartbeat quicken. He thought she did…but hearing someone else say it was the confirmation he didn’t know he needed. “Is this the part where you tell me that if I hurt her you’ll come after me?” Nick says with a laugh.

David shakes his head as he moves to the sink again to wash his hands. “Nah, our moms didn’t raise us like that. She raised us to be picky with who we date. So…” He turns back towards Nick as he dries his hands off. “I’m just telling you that if my sister picked you…you should feel lucky. My sister doesn’t need a man…she’s never actively looked for a guy. If she’s kept you around this long…you’re lucky.”

“I know…I know I’m lucky.” Nick says, nodding his head. “I realized from day one that your sister is way out of my league. And every day I’m scared to death she’ll realize that.” Nick wasn’t real sure why he had admitted that to David, but it felt good to say out loud.

David nods his head; he liked this Nick guy, knew he’d be good for his sister. “Alright, well I’ve said my piece.” David says, throwing the paper towels he had used to dry his hands off with in the trash. “Now you may want to go freshen up a bit because you stink and my sister will be too polite to say anything about it.” Both men laugh out loud before David gives Nick instructions on how to care for the cut.

* * *

 

“Oh my gosh, Nick…what happened to you?” Elizabeth says as Nick enters her apartment. Of course, he mused to himself, that the first thing she noticed on him was the bandage covering the cut on his forehead.

He lets out a sigh as she shuts the door behind him. She was still in her sleep clothes, a university t-shirt and checkered shorts, but it looked like she had put in her contacts. He knew that she wore them and had back-up glasses, but had never seen them.  “I am fine…suspect was still at the scene—“ Elizabeth lets out a quiet groan as he follows her to the kitchen. “took me by surprise is all.”

Elizabeth just raises an eyebrow at him as she moves to the counter to put the finishing touches on the plates she had been preparing. Nick’s mouth starts to water when she sits the plate on the table along the wall. For him she had made sausage, bacon, and biscuits and gravy; for herself she had a waffle, bacon, and a small side plate with a single biscuit with some gravy. He thanks her, telling her it looked delicious before they both sat down and started eating. Usually they chatted while they ate, but Elizabeth was being uncharacteristically quiet. “Does, um—“ she clears her throat. Nick looks up from his food, still chewing though. “Does stuff like that happen often…you getting hurt?”

Ah, so that’s why she had been so quiet. “No.” Nick reaches across the table, placing his hand over hers. “No…this doesn’t happen often. Now, I’m not gonna lie and say that it’s not ever a possibility…but I’m Crime Lab…not police.”

She lets out a sigh, stabbing at her waffle. Turning the hand under Nick’s, she laces her fingers with his. She looks at him for a moment, as if deciding something. “But you…you know, have protection and all that…back-up?”

“Yeah,” Nick nods his head. “We carry guns, wear vests, and there is always an officer with us.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth nods her head, giving his hand another squeeze before releasing it. She doesn’t say anything else on the matter, but Nick could see that she was thinking it over in her head.

After a few more minutes of them eating in silence, Nick speaks up. “So I, uh, I met your brother.” Elizabeth’s head snaps up faster than he thought possible. “Didn’t know who he was at first…this guy just comes in the room calling me good lookin’”

Elizabeth lets out a snort of laughter. When Nick doesn’t return the look, she sobers up. “I’m sorry…but that does sound like David. Was he the one who stitched you up?”

“Yeah.” Nick stabs at a piece of biscuit with a little more force than he had meant to. This annoyance had been chewing at him though, ever since he met David. “He just caught me by surprise is all…”

“What?” Elizabeth says after swallowing the bit she had been chewing. “The fact that he’s—“

“No—I mean, yeah…but that’s not what I meant.” Nick shakes his head. This conversation had potential to veer off in dangerous territory that he did not mean for it to head into. He had to get back on track and just say what he was thinking. “I was just caught by surprise because you didn’t tell me.” Elizabeth sets hers fork down to pick up her coffee mug, peering at him over the edge of it as she sipped the liquid. “Like David said, you probably didn’t tell me because you just didn’t think it was a big deal. But, he is your family and you two are obviously very close. I just thought that we were getting to the point that we were sharing…well everything.”

Elizabeth lets out a heavy sigh as she sets the coffee mug down. “You’re right.” She mutters. “I just…it’s not even something that I think about anymore—never really did. He’s just David to me. That’s all I ever tell anyone. I’m sorry if you felt like I was hiding something from you though…that wasn’t my intention.” Nick nods his head, telling her that he understood. They finish eating, Nick rinsing the dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. When he finishes with the task, he finds Elizabeth in the living room, waiting for him on the couch. Instead of sitting next to her, he lays down on the couch and laying his head on her lap. The exhaustion from his shift the night before was finally catching up to him. He smiles a little as Elizabeth starts running her fingers through his hair. “David didn’t give you too hard of a time, did he?”

“Nah,” Nick says. “He’s a damn good doctor…that’s for sure.”

“Yeah…he got the brains of the family—or well, the science part anyway.” Elizabeth says. Nick lets out a quiet snort of laughter, feeling the pull of sleep as the tips of Elizabeth’s nails hypnotically run along his scalp. Right when he’s on the edge of sleep, Elizabeth speaks up. “Hey, so, I feel very high school asking this—and I’m sure I already know the answer but…you’re not, like, dating other people…right?”

Nick smiles to himself; he had forgotten about wanting to ask her about that. Not because he was reconsidering the notion of being exclusive with her, but because when he was around her he felt so comfortable. “No ma’am, I am not.” He looks back up at her to see her smiling back down at him. “Just you. You?”

“No…” She shakes her head, her long braid falling over her shoulder. “Just you. Wanna…you know, keep it that way?”

He nods his head before she leans down, sealing her lips to his. A small part of his brain pointed out how it was slightly awkward to kiss in this position, but he didn’t care. After a few moments, they pull apart. Elizabeth nudges the back of his head, causing him to lift it. He’s slightly confused as she gets up, but then relaxes when she lays down on the couch next to him. Elizabeth’s head lays against his chest as one of his arm wraps under her and around her waist, the other coming to rest on her hip. Once they are settled, Nick starts to feel the pull of sleep again. This time, as he drifts off to sleep, he does so with his beautiful girl in his arms and a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff and humor! My faves :) Hope you are enjoying and please leave kudos and comments! I am going to try to get on a more regular posting schedule also :)


	5. Chocolate Chip

With one hand, Elizabeth knocks swiftly on the door, balancing a plate of food with the other. Waiting patiently, she shifts her weight back and forth between her feet. She had no clue what she was in store for when Nick opened the door. He had asked her to come over this morning, saying that they needed to talk about something. He had assured her it wasn’t bad, but it still warranted a conversation in person. A second later, he opens the door. “I brought you food,” She speaks up before Nick can. “So, if you were planning on breaking up with me, you are going to look like a real jerk breaking up with the woman who brought you a plate of leftover amazing Thanksgiving Day food.”

Nick laughs quietly, waving her inside. Elizabeth knew deep down that he wasn’t planning on breaking up with her, but it was something to say to break the nerves she was feeling. “I’m not breaking up with you.” Nick says as they walk into his kitchen. She sets the food down on the counter, tsking at the takeout containers on the counter. Before she can turn back around though, Nick comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She lets out a quiet sigh as he presses a kiss below her ear, moving down her jaw to her cheek. “Then who would bring me food?”

She rolls her eyes at his laughter as she turns in his arms and lightly pushes him back. He keeps laughing as she removes her coat and throws it on the chair at the nearby table. “You’re the one who asked me to come over,” Elizabeth leans back against the counter and crosses her arms over her chest. “Saying that we needed to talk about something…”

“Yeah, probably could’ve worded that differently.” Nick says. She nods her head, arching an eyebrow as he pulls out a chair from the table and sits down. “I’ve been transferred to swing shift, effective immediately.”

Elizabeth’s brows furrow together as she moves across the room and sits in the chair across the table from him. “I didn’t know that you had put in for a transfer?” Nick looks up at her, raising an eyebrow himself. “Oh…you didn’t…”

“Nope…Ecklie promoted Cath to swing supervisor and transferred me and Warrick.” Nick explains. He leans back in the chair, letting out a sign and rubbing a hand over his hair. “I really don’t like that guy…”

“Yeah, I’d say.” Nick nods his head as he stands up from the table and goes over to the food she had brought. The food was left over from David and Elizabeth’s small Thanksgiving meal they had the day before. It wasn’t a huge celebration, just David and her, but true to his nature David had made too much food. “So, swing shift…that’s four to midnight?”

“Supposed to be.” Nick says, sliding the plate into the microwave. She corrects him on the time he had entered before he sets the food to cook. “But, you know how my schedule is. I just feel sorry for Cath…she was really wanting that days supervisor position.” She nods her head, agreeing with him that the situation sucked. When the food is warmed to his satisfaction, he brings it back over to the table. “So, long story short—I have to go back into work later today.”

“Wow, now I don’t like this Ecklie guy.” Elizabeth props her chin in her hand as Nick starts eating. “So, I guess you’re going to miss the Jansen-Christmas-Decorating-Extravaganza…”

Nick stares at her for a moment with slightly wide eyes before clearing his throat. “’Christmas-Decorating-Extravaganza’? Is that—is that a real thing?”

“Oh yeah buddy.” She nods her head, smiling widely. Growing up, Christmas had always been a huge deal in Elizabeth’s house. The day after Thanksgiving was dedicated to decorating and baking. Now, David and her spent the day decorating each other’s apartments. “We’re talking the whole shebang here too. Why, what does your family do for the holidays?”

Nick shrugs a shoulder as he pokes at his food. “Mom was always in charge of that stuff…sisters helped out. I don’t know…that was always a girls’ thing they did—“

“Yeah, no, you’re dating a feminist—that whole ‘girl’s thing’ isn’t going to fly with me.” Nick smirks at her. She knew that he hadn’t meant anything by the comment just as he knew she was just jesting with him. The two sit in silence as Nick continues to eat. When he’s finished Nick walks with Elizabeth to his front door. “Sure you don’t want to call in tonight…join in on the fun today?” He just smiles at the brunette before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. “Alright…but you are missing out.” She says once Nick pulls back.

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure we do it together next year.” Elizabeth’s eyebrows raise in surprise at the statement. Nick doesn’t back down though, just nods his head as he grabs for her hips and pulls her towards him. “Yeah…you heard me…”

“Pretty confident there Stokes.” Her hands come to rest on the side of his neck, thumbs running along his jawline. A sly smirk comes to both of their lips as they simultaneously pull the other one closer. It was a bold statement to make, thinking that they’d still be together in a year. At the same time though, neither one of them thought it false. Nick thought he may be in love with Elizabeth; he certainly hadn’t ever felt this way about anyone before. He didn’t want to jump the gun though and drop that bomb (the relationship was technically still pretty new); so, for now he was just enjoying it…especially the current moment. “Alright…” she says, finally pulling away from Nick. “I better let you get to sleep. Lord knows it’d be a crime if you went to work sleep deprived…”

Nick laughs loudly; she was picking up quickly on how his work actually worked. He lets out a sigh as she opens the door and starts to leave. “If you want I’ll swing by, granted I get off at a reasonable time, and see the handy work?”

“Hmmm…” Elizabeth taps a finger to her chin, feigning thinking it over. “What’s your favorite kind of cookie?”

“Chocolate chip.” Nick gives her a wide smile, already know where she was going with her question.

Taking a step back towards him, she shakes her head. “Lord you really are the typical all-American guy…” After a quick peck on the cheek, she steps back through the door. “I’ll have some waiting on you.” Nick steps halfway out into the hallway, watching her as she starts down the hallway. He smirks as she tosses him one last comment before heading down the stairs. “Don’t keep me up waiting too long Stokes…”

* * *

 

“Well, I think it is safe to say that we have outdone ourselves this year.” Elizabeth says, stepping back from the tree. She had finally got the last ornament to hang just perfectly. Looking over her handiwork, the white lights bouncing off the multi-colored ornaments. There was a nice mixture of store bought ornaments and ones from her childhood. When their parents had passed away, David and her had divided up the ornaments from the family’s tree. Elizabeth had ended up with most that she had made as a child and the ones from her moms’ travels over the years. “Best we’ve ever done…”

“You say that every year.” David yells from the kitchen. It was true, but as Elizabeth had told Nick this was her favorite time of the year. After leaving Nick’s, the brother and sister had started the day at David’s decorating his apartment and baking enough bread to last them the next month. When they had finished, they went to Elizabeth’s. Once the bulk of the apartment was finished David had started in on baking. The tradition was to bake cookies for themselves and also enough to give away to friends and co-workers. “Last batch is in the oven…chocolate chip for your man.”

Elizabeth rolls her eyes as she turns from the tree to see her brother standing in the arch way that separated the kitchen from the living room. “Don’t even act like you didn’t make extra for yourself.” He just smirks as he walks into the room and sits down on the couch. “But thank you anyway.”

“Anything for my baby sister.” David says in an extra sweet voice. She was correct in her accusation though. He liked Nick Stokes from when he had met him last month. The CSI seemed like a nice guy and his sister was obviously crazy about him. So, he didn’t mind to make a couple extra batches of cookies for the guy…and himself. “That’s crazy though…what you said about them moving him to a different shift. Sounds like some shit the hospital would pull.”

“Yeah…he was not too happy about it. But, not much he can do about it.” Elizabeth says with a sigh as she props her green and red stripped clad feet on the coffee table.

David peers at his sister, who was staring at the tree in the corner of room. “Y’all are really getting serious…aren’t you?” They had only been together for a couple months and didn’t show any signs, that he could see, of them fizzling out. Elizabeth turns to him and nods her head, smiling a little at him. Yeah…this one was sticking around for a while. A small part of his mid wondered if he should start saving back wedding magazines. He starts to make a comment to the effect when a knock on the front door breaks through the room. The smile on his sister’s face grows even larger as she gets up to answer it. He refrains from rolling his eyes as she literally skips over to the door. It wasn’t that he was cynical about relationships, quite the opposite actually. However, being single for as long as he had had made him slightly bitter. When Elizabeth comes back in the room she is accompanied by Nick. “How’s the forehead?” He says to the man, smiling to himself.

The comment earns him a smack on the back of the head from Elizabeth. “Nice to see you again David.” Nick says with a smirk. Elizabeth shakes her head at the both of them; she was surrounded by smartasses. The couple sit down on the couch, Elizabeth sitting between the two men. Nick looks around the room, taking in all the decorations. Every flat surface had something on it, yet it somehow didn’t look tacky or overbearing. “You were not kidding when you said y’all take decorating seriously.” The place even smelled like Christmas, the scent of baking cookies wafting in from the kitchen. Nick smirks as David jumps up, making a comment about getting distracted and letting the cookies burn. When he’s in the kitchen, Elizabeth turns on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her to look at Nick.

“So…how was the first swing shift?” Nick lets out a noncommittal grunt as he shrugs, settling down in the couch more. “Well…” Elizabeth muses as she reaches out, lightly running her fingers through his hair on the side of his head. “You didn’t get off super late…and you don’t smell too bad…that’s always a good sign.”

Nick lets out a snort of laughter. “Hey now, that was one time I came over here stinkin’—“

“And I am never going to let you live it down.” Elizabeth says, still smirking at Nick.

“It’s true—“ David says, coming back into the room. This time though he had a tray laden down with a plate of cookies and three short glasses of milk. “That’s why I told you not to come over here stinkin’ that one day. First shift after she moved out here, I came over here smellin’—“

“Like blood and you had a huge blood stain on you—“

“It was not huge stain.” David rolls his eyes as he sits down in an armchair instead of on the couch. It was a little crowded with the two lovebirds. Nick was trying to hold back his laughter at the two siblings bickering back and forth about the size of the bloodstain. Even if they looked nothing alike, it was obvious just watching the two interact that they were brother and sister. After a minute of them bickering, David finally concedes. “Anyway—“ his hands comes up, ending the squabbling. “Point is Nick…make sure you don’t stink when you come over here. Basically gotta look like you just came from church.”

“You two are gonna be the death of me…I swear.” Elizabeth grumbles as she reaches forward, claiming a glass of milk and grabbing a cookie. The two men follow suit, also grabbing milk and cookies for themselves. The three sit around for the next hour, mainly Nick and David swapping gross medical stories, trying to outdo each other for the weirdest death they had seen. Elizabeth sits there, shaking her head every so often and reminded them of how nasty their jobs were. To herself though, she has highly impressed with the two of them. What they did was way out of anything she’d ever be able to do and took a lot of knowledge to do it. Both men were highly intelligent and it showed…even if they were comparing the weirdest color of blood they had ever seen. Once all the cookies on the plate are gone, David stands up, announcing that he needed to leave. He honestly shouldn’t have stayed as late as he did, owing to the fact that he was starting a twenty-four hour shift in just few hours. After he leaves, the couple settle in on the couch, Elizabeth leaning against Nick’s side as he casually lays an arm over her shoulder. “Thank you for coming over. I know you probably didn’t get much sleep today—“

“Oh, no, I’m fine.” Nick says, tightening the arm he had around her to pull her closer. He was dog-tired, but there was nowhere else he’d rather be. Warrick and Catherine had invited him out for a drink, celebrate making it through their first swing shift. He had turned them down though, choosing to spend the rest of his night at Elizabeth's. His co-workers had given him minor grief about it, but a shared smile between the two of them conveyed that they knew things were getting serious between Nick and Elizabeth and they better get used to him choosing to spend his time with her over them. Maybe in a couple weeks though, Nick mused to himself, Elizabeth could join them…let her meet the rest of the team. “Besides…can’t get homemade chocolate chips cookies at my place.”

Elizabeth shakes her head. “David likes you…won him over with your gory stories.” Nick just nods his head, smiling a little as he presses his lips to the top of her head. “ _Le sang et les tripes ... méchants.”_

Nick’s brow furrows, not recognizing what she had just said. “Do you…do you speak—what was that? French?” He leans back against the couch cushions as she turns around to face him. She nods her head; she thought he knew this. There had been a time or two over the last month she had let a word or two sleep while the two of them were _en pleine passion._ “I didn’t know you spoke French…”

One of her eyebrows quirk up as she fully turns around to face him. “I know you’ve heard me drop a few words here and there—“

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were fluent.” Nick shrugs a shoulder. It wasn’t a big deal, as a matter of fact he found it extremely attractive. He smirks a little as he slips into his own second language. “ _Muy agradable.”_ The woman smiles widely, scooting closer on the couch towards Nick and wrapping her arms around his neck. She loved it when he spoke Spanish and planned on showing him just how much she enjoyed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All translations taken from Google...I do not own any of the CSI characters mentioned, just my own original characters :)


	6. Querencia

“This is by far the weirdest date you’ve ever taken me on.” Elizabeth says from the passenger seat of Nick’s truck. Nick just laughs as she shakes his head, reaching over and patting her leg, letting his hand linger there a moment. In an effort to partake in more things Nick enjoyed, Elizabeth had agreed to a date night of visiting the shooting range. She had never shot a gun before in her life, but that was about to change. “And I’m going to be horrible…just warning you.”

“Ah, no…I bet you’re a regular Annie Oakley.” Nick says, trying to be encouraging.

Elizabeth smiles wistfully as the truck pulls into the parking lot of the shooting range. She probably wouldn’t be as nervous if some of Nick’s co-workers weren’t joining them as well. They all needed to get the practice in with proficiency exams coming up again. So, the Saturday evening was being spent at the shooting range. She holds back a sigh as she slides out of the truck, Nick meeting her by the door. He could see the hesitation on her face; placing a hand on the small of her back, he gives her a tiny push, propelling her towards the door. She wasn’t nervous about shooting, she was more nervous about making a fool of herself in front of Nick’s friends. Elizabeth knew how close Nick was with his co-workers, even the ones still on graveyard shift; they were basically family. If she made a bad impression on them…who knew what would happen. When they enter the lobby of the establishment, the group they were meeting up with were already there.

Nick calls out a blanket hello to the three of them, capturing their attention. Warrick greets both of them, having already met Elizabeth. Catherine and Greg, however, just stare awkwardly from her to Nick. “Cath, Greg…this is Elizabeth—Elizabeth, this is Catherine and Greg.”

The three people each reach out and shake each other’s hands. Elizabeth pauses, staring at Greg. She had a talent for remembering faces and this one was familiar. “Do I—have we met before?”

Warrick and Catherine both chuckle while Nick’s lips press into a hard line. It had been months since Greg shared how he knew Elizabeth, but it still irked his jealousy nerve a little bit. “Um…” Greg looks between Elizabeth and Nick, not sure if he should tell the truth. “Not, um, not officially. I’ve visited the museum you work at before…”

“That’s right— “Elizabeth snaps her fingers, pointing at the man. “That’s where I’ve seen you before…you’ve been in there a couple times though…haven’t you? It’s hard for me to forget a face— “

“Yeah…” Greg says, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. “I, um—I didn’t get to look around fully the first time.”

Everyone chuckles at Greg’s sudden awkwardness, even Nick. “So, Nicky says you’ve never shot before?” Elizabeth nods her head at Catherine who smiles back at the younger woman. “We are gonna have fun then.” The rest of the group nods their heads as they all go up to the desk and pay their admission. The CSI’s had all brought their own guns, but Elizabeth must rent one from the range. She leaves Nick in charge of picking the gun out for her, knowing nothing about them herself. She had meant to do some research of her own, but had never gotten around to it. Nick picks out a Glock 9mm for her, claiming it would be the easiest for her to handle. She, and the rest of the group, hide their laughter as the young guy at the counter a little too eagerly offers to show her how to use the gun, Nick quickly speaking up and saying that he had it covered. After a few minutes of basic instruction on how to actually use the gun, Nick shows her how to fire it. Once she feels confident enough, Elizabeth steps up to the booth and lifts the gun. Everyone gathered around behind her, eager to see her first shot.

Taking a deep breath, she lines up the gun as best as she can, aiming for the center of the target. As she releases the breath, she squeezes the trigger just like Nick had taught her. The sound of the gun makes her jump a little bit, Nick’s hand lightly brushing against the small of her back to let her know that she was okay. Lowering the gun, she smiles brightly when she sees that she hit dead center of the target.

“See…told ya, Annie Oakley.” Nick tells her before pressing a kiss to her temple. Catherine, Warrick, and Greg each convey their positive remarks to her before moving to their own booths. “You good?” Elizabeth nods her head, smiling at him still. “Alright, if you need anything I’ll be in the next one over.”

She nods her head as Nick leaves the booth. Turning back towards the target, Elizabeth lines up the shot again and continues to shoot, unloading the two clips she had paid for. The shots that had followed the first one were nowhere close to the center, but she still had fun. Every now and then she would glance at the other targets down the range, noting that the professionals were, of course, shooting very well. Once she had emptied the two clips for the Glock, she returned the gun to the counter. Elizabeth perches herself at one of the tables near the back of the room, watching the others shoot.

After a while, they all finish, Greg shooting the longest of them all, and congregate at the table that Elizabeth had sat at. “So…what did you think?” Warrick asks her.

She shrugs a shoulder, lifting a hand in the air for a moment. “More fun than I thought…definite adrenaline rush.” The group nods their heads in agreement. “I think, though, that I’ll leave the shooting to Nick. You know…if the situation ever calls for it.”

Nick lets out a wry laugh, shaking his head. Looking around at everyone in the group, he suggests they all go for a drink. Everyone agrees before deciding on a spot to meet at. In the truck, Elizabeth props her elbow on the door, letting her head rest against her fist. Nick’s eyes shift over to her, looking out of the corner of his eye. The downturn of his girlfriend’s lips isn’t missed. “Hey…” He reaches over the console, letting his finger coast along the back of her hand to pull her out of whatever thoughts she was in. With a sharp intake of breath, Elizabeth turns her head to look at him. “You okay?” The sudden turn in her mood had him worried.

“I’m fine…” Elizabeth attempts a reassuring smile but it falls flat. Shaking her head, she reaches up and runs a hand through her hair. Nick knew that was her nervous tick, letting him know that something was weighing on her mind. The vehicle falls silent for a couple minutes, Elizabeth going over in her mind how best to convey what she was thinking. “I just…it’s easy for me to forget that your job has an element of danger to it. That it is necessary for you to carry a gun sometimes. I can just pretend that you’re in a lab all day…until something like going to a shooting range for work is brought up. When I said what I said at the shooting range, about leaving the shooting to you, I meant it as a joke but…I don’t know, it just got me thinking.”

A deep breath slowly escapes Nick as he subconsciously tightens his grip on the wheel. It was true, he purposely left out the more dangerous parts of his day when telling her stories about work for the sole reason that she got so worried about him. Hell, he hadn’t even told her about his stalker yet. Elizabeth was a worrier, that was something she was very upfront about and contributed to her habit of overthinking. On one hand, it bothered him that she did worry so much, he didn’t like to see her upset; then again, he knew that the big contributor of her worrying so much about him was her feelings towards him. When they arrive at the bar the group had decided on, Nick places his truck in park and takes off his seatbelt, but doesn’t move to get out. Instead, he flips his middle console up and slides over into the middle seat. “Hey— “One of his hands come up, cupping the side of her face. She lets out a sigh when she finally lifts her eyes to look at him. “You are right…my job can be dangerous sometimes. I have had instances where I didn’t know what was going to happen. But, it is a job that needs to be done. The team and I, we catch bad people and get them off the streets.” She nods her head in agreement; he knew she that knew this. “And you know what? I would take a hundred guns in my face if it meant keeping you safe…I love you, Elizabeth.”

The phrase falls from his lips naturally; they weren’t forced and he certainly hadn’t expected to say it. They weren’t any less true though, he really did love the overthinking, analytical, intelligent, workaholic, drop-dead gorgeous woman sitting next to him. Elizabeth smiles widely at him, all the worry from her face a moment ago, long gone as she leans forward, pressing her lips to his. One of her hands come up and wrap around the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. Pulling back, the smile is still plastered on her face. “I love you too.” The response comes out as a whisper, but carries the same weight. Coming together again, Nick wraps one of his arms around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he can in the confines of the truck. After a few moments, the two lean back and share a look, silently agreeing to the same plan. Firing off a text to Warrick (whom Nick did not know could see the couple in the cab of the truck from the door of the bar where he was waiting with Greg and Catherine), he slides back over the driver’s seat and puts the truck in reverse, heading out of the parking lot for whosever apartment was closer.

* * *

 

One of Nick’s fingers lazily trace over the small tattoo on the back of Elizabeth’s left shoulder. A small smile slips onto her lips as his hand moves from the tattoo to her hair. When Nick had first discovered the tattoo months ago, he had laughed. The reaction had thrown her for a loop; _You just don’t seem the type to have a tattoo…plus the fact that it’s a book,_ he had explained while trying to control his laughter. The tattoo had been a split-second decision in college, more to prove to David that she would get one. So naturally she had gotten one of her favorite book, _A Little Princess._ “What are you thinking about?” Nick asks, his words reverberating in his chest, making Elizabeth’s head buzz.

She lifts her head up, propping herself up on her elbow. “Clinomania…” Nick’s eyebrows furrow together in confusion over the word. She smiles wider as she scoots up in the bed, laying her head on the pillow next to his. “And basorexia…” The confusion grows on Nick’s face, causing Elizabeth to giggle. “And, querencia.”

“Yeah, I have no clue what you’re talking about sweetheart.” Nick turns, laying on his side and pulls Elizabeth closer to him. “Not all of us can read a book a day…”

Elizabeth laughs again, mainly because of Nick’s hand sliding across her stomach. “Clinomania is the excessive desire to stay in bed— “Nick hums lightly as the tip of his nose runs along her jaw. “Basorexia is the overwhelming desire to kiss.” Her boyfriend indulges the desire, closing the small distance between the two of them.

“And what about querencia…” Nick asks once he pulls back. The confusion was back on his face as he thought over the word. “It sounds Spanish almost…”

“It is—I think anyway.” One of Elizabeth’s hands come to rest on the side of Nick’s face. In that moment, she felt more content than she had in a long time. The couple’s declarations earlier in the night had settled a new level of comfort over the two of them. That level of comfort was something that Elizabeth had been debating, maybe even fighting against in her mind for the past few weeks. Lying in bed with him right now, querencia was the only word she could think of to describe that level of comfort. “It means ‘a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels a home’ or ‘the place where you are your most authentic self’.”

One of Nick’s hands covers the one Elizabeth had on the side of his face. “I feel that way around you too.” The two smile at each other as they come together again, this time just wrapping their arms around each other. Elizabeth’s head rests against Nick’s chest as the two of them drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff...I apologize for nothing :)  
> Those crazy words at the end of the chapter were verified for their meaning...so I didn't make them up!


	7. Never Told You I Wasn't Difficult

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nick says, his concerned voice coming through the phone. He was currently at the lab working a crime scene…something to do with a bear. Elizabeth was laying on the couch, trying to hide the fact that she was in pain. She hadn’t been feeling well for a while now, but today it was harder to hide. Nick, being especially observant because of his job, was immediately able to tell she wasn’t feeling well just by her voice over the phone.

“I’m fine. My brother is a doctor…I think I know when I’m okay and when I’m not.” Elizabeth says, trying not to snap at him. When it came to her health she was especially stubborn, something her brother found especially annoying.

“Yeah, and I also know that you don’t like to go to the doctor or admit when you’re in pain.” Nick counters. “So, I ask you again…are you okay?”

“I will be fine, Nick.” Elizabeth says. Her hand comes up to rub at her temple. She technically should be on her way to work by now, but she was slow moving today, still laying on the couch. “I’m sure it’s just cramps.”

He lets out a sigh, not convinced. He knew though that he wasn’t going to get her to go to the doctor or anything. “Alright, if you say so.”

“Look, if it gets worse, I’ll call David. Happy?” Elizabeth finally admits, partially to placate Nick. She was sure she could make it through the day and whatever was wrong with her would pass.

“Not happy about you not feeling good, but happy that you at least admitted to asking for help if it gets worse.” Nick says semi-smugly. “Regardless, rest…take the day off—“

“Oh, now you’re just talking crazy.” Elizabeth pushes herself off the couch, ignoring the sudden wave of nausea. It passes quickly, but leaves her feeling even shakier than before. “I’m going to work.”

“Elizabeth…” Nick says in an exasperated tone.

“That is my name…don’t wear it out.” Nick lets out a chortle; this was a losing battle for the moment. “I’m going to work Nick. End of story.”

* * *

 

“My god Elizabeth…you look like shit.” Sam says, standing in the door way of Elizabeth’s office. The sick woman picks her head up and rolls her eyes at her as she runs a hand through her hair. Elizabeth thought that she had only laid her head down for a moment, but according to the clock on her desk she had actually fallen asleep for about twenty minutes. “Seriously…you don’t look good.” Sam walks further into the room, shutting the door behind her.

“I’m fine.” Elizabeth says weakly. As the morning had worn on, she only felt even worse than she had at home. She was determined to make it through the day though and then she would call David. Of course, she had been flat out lying to Nick over text all day, telling him that she felt fine. “Or well…yeah…I’m fine. Leave me alone.” A wave of her hand in the attempts to dismiss her friend.

“No way girl.” Sam shakes her head as she makes her way around the desk to stand next to Elizabeth. She flinches slightly as Sam places the back of her hand against her forehead. “You are burning up. You need to call David…or go to the E.R.”

“Nope.” She pushes her hand away, shaking her head stubbornly. “I have meeting in an hour with some donors. I can’t miss it.”

Sam lets out an exasperated sigh as the brunette pushes herself to a standing position and starts to head out of the office. Sam has to jog a little to catch up with her, not expecting her to leave the office so quickly.  “I can go to the meeting. You need to go to a doctor—“

“I said I’m fine, Sam.” Elizabeth says. She comes to a stop in the middle of an exhibit, spinning around to face her. “This meeting is really important and I should-“ Her vision suddenly goes black for a second and her legs start to give out. Sam reacts quickly, catching Elizabeth. “Okay…” Elizabeth slowly straightens herself, but keeping ahold of Sam who was already reaching for her phone in her pocket. “Yeah, maybe I should—“ The admission is left unspoken though as Elizabeth fully passes out, Sam yelling towards the front of the museum for help.

* * *

 

“Hey man,” Nick hears as he walks out of the locker room. He looks up from the file he had been reading to see Warrick walking towards him. Suddenly the man tosses him something small. “You left that in the break room. Been ringing non-stop.”

“Thanks man…” Nick says. He had kept his cell phone close to him all day; it must had fallen out of his pocket. When he opens it and reads the missed calls, he immediately grows worried. Quickly, he calls David back, who had called him ten times in the last fifteen minutes. “Hey David…what’s going on?”

“Did you know that Elizabeth was sick?” He snaps at Nick.

“Uh…she hadn’t been feeling good the last couple days.” Nick tells him. Nick immediately starts for the exit to the parking lot with Warrick right beside him, asking what was going on. “She thought it was just her period…but she said she’d call you if it got worse—“

“Well that’s not the call I got.” David practically yells into the phone. “Instead, I get a call from Sam saying that Elizabeth passed out at work—“

“ _What??”_ Nick yells this time.

“Get your ass to Desert Palm…now.”

* * *

 

“What’s goin’ on?” Nick says breathlessly as he comes to a stop in front of Sam and David. At the crime lab, he had quickly explained to Warrick what was going on and sped over to Desert Palm. He knew he should’ve talked to Catherine as well, but was in too big of a hurry to get to the hospital.

David lets out a sigh as he claps Nick on the shoulder. “I’m sorry about earlier on the phone.” He says. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like-“

Nick shakes his head, waving off the apology. He was all too familiar with family getting worked up when someone was in trouble, it hardly even fazed him anymore. Now, he just wanted to know what was wrong with Elizabeth. “Nah, it’s okay man. Just…what’s going on? Where’s Elizabeth?”

“She’s in surgery.” Sam says, standing up from a chair. Nick lets out a sigh as one of his hands comes up and he runs it over the top of his head. “We were at work and she was so pale and sweaty…I was trying to get her to go to the doctor or call David and then she just passed out.”

“Do they…do they know what is wrong with her?” Nick asks David.

“Um, they suspect it’s her appendix.” David says. “She’s never had it take out. They should be out with an update in about an hour or so.” An hour or so stretched into two hours. The three of them sit around the waiting room, hardly saying a word to each other.

Finally, David went to the back to use some of his clout as a doctor to get some answers. “Hey,” he says when he comes back after a little while. Nick and Sam both turn to him, expectant for answers. “So the surgery went longer because there was some complications—“

“What??”

“Is she okay??” Both Nick and Sam say at the same time. They stand, crowding around him.

“They are closing her up right now.” David says. It was an odd situation he was currently in, he had delivered this sort of news countless time. This time though, he was delivering it to his own family, or the closest thing to it. “They give me a room number…she’s going to have to stay here a couple days or more…there’s some stuff they wouldn’t tell me yet.” Sam and Nick both nod their heads and thank him before they follow him out of the waiting room to go to Elizabeth’s room.

* * *

 

Nick finally ends the call with Catherine, grateful she was giving him the additional days off until Elizabeth got out of the hospital. She was irked with him that he had just run out of the lab like he had, but was willing to overlook it since it was an emergency. Once he goes back in the room, Sam leaves, having to get back to the museum. With Elizabeth out, someone had to take charge of the museum and Sam was next in line. Nick tells her that he’ll keep her updated. When she’s gone, Nick settles into a chair next to Elizabeth’s bed. It had been almost twenty-four hours since her surgery and she still hadn’t woken up. According to the surgeon, Elizabeth’s appendix had ruptured but that was just the beginning of it. “ _It appears her appendix ruptured a few days ago…leaving her susceptible to infection. Not only that, but it also seems that her gallbladder had stopped functioning at least three weeks ago.”_ The surgeon had explained. _“Right now, our concern is clearing up the infection caused by the organs before it causes anymore damage.”_

“Has she stirred at all?” David asks as he comes in the room. Nick shakes his head. “Damn it Queenie…” the brother mutters as he sinks down in the other chair.

“I knew I should’ve made her call you sooner—“

“No sense in beating yourself up about it.” David cuts him off. “You know as well as I do by now that Queenie is too damn stubborn about this kind of stuff. Now we just get the satisfaction of telling her ‘I told you so’ when she wakes up.”

Nick shakes his head, grinning slightly. He looks over at Elizabeth, lying on the bed. “Hey, let me ask you…why do you call her Queenie?” Nick had heard him refer to Elizabeth as that a few times.

“You know her name is Elizabeth Victoria.” David explains. Nick nods his head. “Our moms named her after two great Queens of England…Elizabeth and Victoria. When I learned that…I just started calling her Queenie.”

Nick nods his head, smiling a little, as he still looks at Elizabeth. She was still really pale; he hated seeing her like this. He saw too many people like this. This felt worse to him though because there was no one to blame, no suspect to follow. “My supervisor gave me a few days off.” Nick says. “So I can hang around…” David nods his head. Both men look at Elizabeth, silently willing her to wake up.

* * *

 

As she woke, Elizabeth felt cold and her whole body felt heavy. She tries to open her eyes, but they also just felt so damn heavy. Instead, she shifts her head to the side as she tries in vain to pull the blankets further up. “Hey, Elizabeth…” A voice to her left says. She flops her head to the other side and finally wills my eyes to open a little bit. Through the haze, she is able to make out Nick’s face. “Hey, you’re awake…”

“Barely…” She croaks out, her voice hoarse after not using it. “I’m so sleepy…where am I?” Nick shifts closer to the bed, moving from the chair to sitting on the edge of the bed.

Her eyes shut again as Nick answers her. He reaches out, moving a lock of her hair from off her forehead. “You’re at Desert Palm Hospital. You passed out at work…had to have your appendix and gallbladder taken out.”

“Never told you…I wasn’t…difficult…” A corner of her mouth quirks up at the joke, trying to make Nick laugh. She knew he had to be freaked out by the thought of her being in the hospital.

“Nah, not difficult.”  Nick quietly chuckles, gathering one of her hands into his. It felt cold but at least it was moving, squeezing his hand back. “You’re perfect.”

“You’re not…so bad…yourself…” She says. She was trying to open her eyes, but was still having a hard time. “What…day is...it?”

“Um…it is…” Nick lets out a little laugh. “It is February 14th…Valentine’s Day.”

“Well…kiss me then…Stokes.” Nick lets out another laugh. He leans forward, gently pressing his lips to hers. It was a sorry excuse for a kiss, seeing as how Elizabeth was still so tired she couldn’t even open her eyes…but it still made both of their hearts soar, just like every other kiss. “Thank…you.”

Nick presses another kiss to her forehead before sitting up straight. “Any time darlin’.”

Elizabeth could feel herself drifting back to sleep. “Good…cause I like…kissing you.” she says. “I think…I’m getting ready…to fall back…asleep.”

“That’s fine.” Nick tells her. “You sleep and then when you wake back up I’ll be here, David will be here, and Sam will be here.”

“Good…” She says starting to smile again. She tries a couple times to open her eyes again and finally succeed on the third try. This time she could see Nick more clearly. He was looking down at her so tenderly and lovingly; of course he looked dog-tired too…but still as handsome as ever. “So handsome…” She reaches up and runs her fingers along his jaw once.

Nick smiles, gently grabbing her hand and kissing my fingertips. "I love you." He whispers, seeing that she was falling back asleep.

As the after effects of the anesthesia from her surgery start to pull her back to sleep, a smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "I love you too..."  

 


	8. I'm On Break

“I’m here to see Nick Stokes.” Elizabeth tells the man at the front desk at the crime lab. He looks up from his computer, looking bored out of his mind. “He told me to just to ask for a visitor’s badge? I should be on a list.” The guy looks down at his computer, clicking around for a moment. Finally, he nods his head, reaching into a drawer for a visitor’s badge. She mumbles a thanks as she clips it onto her shirt. With a sigh, she spins on her heels and heads back through the open double doors. This was the first time she had been to the lab. Lately Nick had been dropping hints that he would like for her to stop by and see him at work sometime. Being there at such a late hour didn’t bother her; she hardly ever sleeps anyway, maybe a few hours a night because of her knack of getting lost in research or a book.

Earlier in the night after some surfing around on the internet she had made him a plate of food and a tupperware bowl full of red velvet cookies. Glancing around as she walks through the lab, looking for the break room figuring she’d find Nick there first, the woman felt totally out of place. Debating on whether to ask someone for directions, she sees Catherine step out of a doorway just ahead of her.

“Elizabeth,” she says, obviously surprised to see her. She closes the file she had been looking at, tucking it under her arm. “What are you doing here?”

The younger woman holds up the bag that she had the food as an answer. “Brought Nick some food. He’d been dropping hints lately…’ _man, I need to get some better food for work’, ‘I wish I had some of your food to have for work’,_ you know…things like that.”

Catherine shakes her head, laughing a little. “Yeah, that sounds like Nicky. Come on, I think I know where he might be.” Elizabeth nods her head as they start down the hallway. Walking through the crime lab, Elizabeth looks through the glass walls that separated the labs from the public spaces. Everything looked so foreign to her. It amazed her that Nick, and everyone that worked there for that matter, used all of it daily and could do the work that they do. Finally, they approach what looks to be the break room. Nick wasn’t in there, but Catherine tells Elizabeth that she can wait in there and she’d go find him. She thanks her before she walks back out of the room.

Elizabeth sits the bag with food on the large table in the middle of the room and sit down in one of the chairs. Turning slightly, she looks back out through the glass wall where the door was. It was easy to forget sometimes that Nick and her worked in such different worlds. She was pretty good at science when she was younger…but was better at memorizing what she needed to know more than actually understanding it. This whole place was crawling with science; there were even magazines dedicated to it on the table. Elizabeth, though, was hesitant to look at one with her aversion to gore. Instead, she reaches into her purse and grabs the biography on Catherine the Great she had been reading in her free time.

* * *

 

Catherine finally finds Nick, along with Warrick, in the machine shop. She stands there, waiting for them to pull their heads out of the trunk. She debated on making them jump…but then decides against it. After a minute, they finally come out of the trunk. “Find anything?” she asks, walking closer to the guys.

They both shake their head, clearly frustrated. “Not a damn thing.” Warrick says, slamming the trunk closed with a little too much force.

“Bad mood then?” Catherine says. She knew how she was going to play this now.

Nick’s jaw clenches as he rips his gloves off. “Yeah…I’m pretty pissed off right now.” He says. He honestly was; this was supposed to be their big break in the case and they came up empty-handed. Plus, the fact that he could tell Catherine obviously knew something they didn’t was starting to annoy him.

“What if I told you I know of something that will make your night better?” She says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Or well, yours at least Nick…would that put you in a better mood?”

“What is it Cath?” Nick says, growing exasperated.

“There is a certain brunette here…” Cath says, smirking at Nick now. “About five-five…says she knows you…” Nick nods his head as he starts smiling now. “Sound familiar?”

“Yeah…it’s ringin’ a bell.” He says, starting to take off the jumpsuit he had on. A little bit later, after changing out of the jumpsuit as quick as he could, he walks up to the breakroom where Catherine told him Elizabeth was. Once he’s in the doorway, he sees her sitting at the table, reading a book. He leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and just watches her for a moment. She had her elbows on the table, chin propped on a fist, leaning over the book to read it; that’s how he could tell she was really into the book. Normally he wouldn’t disturb her when she was this concentrated on a book, but she had come to his work. “I really shouldn’t be surprised that you’d come to a _crime lab_ and read a _history_ book…”

Her head turns sharply and she stares at him for moment, like she had just broken out of a trance. Elizabeth smiles widely at him, placing the bookmark back in the book and shutting it. “Well, I certainly wasn’t going to read these magazines you all have here.” Nick chuckles as he walks over and stops by her chair, leaning down to kiss her, keeping it PG since he was at work. “Having a good night so far?”

Nick grabs the chair behind him and pulls it closer to hers. “Better…now that you’re here. What are you doing here, by the way?”

Elizabeth raises an eyebrow at him as she reaches for the green canvas bag that he hadn’t noticed before. “I caught onto your not-so-subtle hints.” She says. Nick starts smiling as she takes the Tupperware dishes out of the bag. “Found a recipe earlier…so here you go.” As she taps on each of the dishes, telling him what is in each, Nick lets out a sigh as he takes each of the bowls from her. “You got a shrimp, sausage, and vegetable mix I made in the skillet and then some red velvet cookies for later on. Whether you share those are up to you.”

“Have I told you how much I love you lately?” Nick says, sitting the food down and pushing it to the side a little. Elizabeth smiles back at him, propping an elbow on the table again and resting her temple against her fist. “Thank you…you didn’t have to do this, despite my hint dropping, but thank you.”

“You deserve to be spoiled a little.” She says, shrugging a shoulder. “And I love you too, by the way.”

Nick smiles at her before grabbing the bowl with the shrimp mixture. He reaches in the bag for a fork he was sure she put in there and instead finds two. When he pulls them both out, he raises an eyebrow at Elizabeth. She doesn’t say anything, just grins at him and takes one of the forks. Together they start eating on the food, Nick mainly eating the sausage and Elizabeth eating the shrimp and telling each other about their day. They hadn’t seen each other yet that day, with Nick now working swing shift their hours were off. They had gotten lucky, no one coming in and bothering them. That was shattered though almost as soon as they had finished the bowl of food. “Damn, something smells good in here.” Greg says as he comes bounding in the room. Nick lets out a quiet groan. “Oh, hey Nick…and Elizabeth…” One of his eyebrows quirks up at seeing the woman sitting there, but he didn’t question it. “Did you bring whatever was smelling good?”

Elizabeth starts to answer but is cut off by Warrick, Sara, and Catherine coming in the room; each of them also remark about how something smelled good. Elizabeth greets Catherine and Warrick but looks at Sara with an unfamiliar glance. “Hi, I’m Sara.” She says, holding her hand out to Elizabeth. The two women shake each other’s hands, smiling cordially.

“Elizabeth,” she tells her. “Nice to finally meet you. Here— “Elizabeth reaches over and grabs the Tupperware bowl with the cookies in it. “I brought these…everyone help yourself— “

“Hey now,” Nick grabs the bowl out of her grasp, earning a stunned look, and holds it out of everyone’s reach. “These are my cookies…you all can keep your grubby paws offa them.”

“Um, excuse me but I believe that I made those— “Elizabeth then leans towards Nick, reaching for the bowl. He had been expecting it—except for when she placed the hand not reaching for the bowl on his left side, right below his armpit where she knew he was kind of ticklish. She succeeds in grabbing the bowl back from him, much to the amusement of his co-workers. “I made them…so I say who gets to eat them.” Elizabeth raises an eyebrow at Nick, challenging him to question her as she hands the bowl off to Greg who was eyeing it hungrily.

Everyone thanks her and then remarks loudly how good the cookies are as they each eat one. “If you two ever break-up,” Greg says to Nick around a mouth full of cookie and points at Elizabeth. “I’m keeping her in the divorce.”

Nick rolls his eyes as he stands up and grabs the bowl back from Greg and sets it back on the table. Elizabeth stands up as well, shaking her head in amusement. “I need to get going…work in the morning.” Everyone tells her bye and thanks her for the cookies; except Nick who places a hand on the small of her back, saying that he would walk her out to her car. Once they are at Elizabeth’s car, she places the bag with empty bowl and her purse in the car, and turns back to Nick. “It was cool…seeing where you worked.”

“I’m glad you came,” Nick says. He takes step closer to her, placing his hands on her hips. Without even thinking about it, Elizabeth steps forward so that she’s flush against him, resting her hands on his chest.

“I’m glad you dropped subtle hints.” She says with a smile. A corner of Nick’s mouth quirks up as he leans in, kissing her like he wanted to earlier. _God,_ he loved kissing this woman; he could never get enough of it. Without even realizing it they both had stepped back so that Elizabeth was laying against her car door. After a few minutes, she pulls back, Nick chasing after her. “I don’t want you getting in trouble…”

“I’m on break— “Nick says, eagerly pulling her back in for more.

Elizabeth runs her hands up Nick’s chest, snaking them around his neck until her fingers are running through his hair. After another few minutes, she brings her hand back around his head to the sides of his face, pulling it back. “I really need to go.” She says firmly. Nick could tell she didn’t want to go, but right now one of them needed to be the responsible one. He lets out a sigh as she steps out of the circle of his arms and gets into her car. “Hey,” she says before shutting the door. Nick leans down, resting his arm on the top of her car. “Come by my place after work and we’ll finish where we left off.”

Nick stands up as she shuts the door. He shakes his head in amusement as he watches her drive off, now wishing even harder for the end of shift.


	9. I'm Right Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: long chapter!

Nick’s eyes fly open as he feels Elizabeth jerk out of his arms. He watches her as she sits straight up, almost frantically looking around the room. “Hey,” he says as he sits up next to her. “What’s wrong?” He looked around the room quickly also, but saw nothing out of place. In the months that they had been together she had never woken out of a dead sleep like this. Elizabeth slept like a rock, it had freaked Nick out the first time the first time he tried to wake her up. “Elizabeth…what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she says, panting. She turns in the bed slightly towards Nick and rests her head on his shoulder. One of his hands comes up and rests on her back; he could feel her shaking slightly. “I don’t know…I just…”

“Was it a bad dream or something…?” Nick probes. This was totally out of character for her.

“No…not really…” she says. Elizabeth picks her head back up and shakes her head. “I don’t know…I just…god this is going to sound crazy—“

“Come on, tell me what it is,” Nick says. “It might make you feel better.”

Elizabeth shuts her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. She could feel herself shaking and was trying in vain to calm down. “I know that you are a crime scene investigator—“ She says, opening her eyes again. “I know that you are a crime scene investigator and that you don’t actually chase criminals like police do and you’re not in danger like that every day, but every now and then I have bad dreams about something happening to you—it doesn’t happen often and they’ve never…”

Nick waits for her to continue but she doesn’t, just keeps staring at him. Her eyes were trained on his face but looked as if they were staring at something else. “They’ve never what?”

“They’ve never felt that real.” She finally admits. Her hand was on his arm, gripping it tightly. “It felt…so damn real…I just—“

“Hey, hey,” Nick stops her, reaching up to gently grasp her face between his hands. “I’m right here. I’m okay.” Elizabeth’s eyes flutter shut right before a few tears fall from her eyes. Nick reaches his thumbs out, wiping them away. “Elizabeth, honey, I am right here—“

“I know, I know,” she says. “ _God,_ it just felt so real…” She reaches up as Nick drops his hands and wipes away the rest of the tear tracks. The image from her dream was still running through her mind. “When do you work next?”

“Tonight,” Nick tells her. He pushes her braid back over her shoulder before leaning his head down and dropping a kiss on her shoulder. “Starting five on and then I got three off.”

Elizabeth lets out a sigh, dropping her head again to Nick’s shoulder for a moment. When she picks it back up, she looks over her shoulder to the alarm clock on Nick’s nightstand. “5:30…I’ll never get back to sleep.” She scoots down a little bit before flopping back onto the bed and laying down.

“How about…” Nick says, laying down next to her. He props himself on one of his arms so that he’s leaning over her. Elizabeth looks at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. “we go get breakfast? You got plenty of time until you have to be at work.” Despite herself, Elizabeth smiles, nodding before leaning up to kiss Nick and pulling him down to her.

* * *

That night, Elizabeth’s phone rings on the nightstand next to her bed. Grabbing for it, she answers it without taking her eyes off the book she was reading. “Boy, if you’ve left me waiting up until now just to tell me you aren’t—“ She figures it is Nick calling her; he had called her earlier in the night, a few hours ago, as he was on his way to a crime scene. He had also told her that he would call her when he was finished with the scene.

The voice that comes over the speaker is not Nick though. “Elizabeth, it’s Catherine.” Elizabeth sits her book to the side now, greeting the woman and asking what she is calling for. “I need you to come down to the lab…something has happened to Nick—“ Questions start pouring from Elizabeth’s lips as she springs into action, slipping on different clothes and putting her glasses on. Catherine stops her though; “I will explain more when you get here…but I need you to hurry, please.”

“Okay, okay, yeah—I’m on my way right now.” In a flurry of motion, she grabs her purse and keys and is out the door. After flying through the streets of Las Vegas, she makes it to the crime lab in record time. When she barrels through the doors, Catherine and Warrick are in the lobby waiting for her. The questions flow from her as soon as she sees them. The two stop her though, assuring her they would answer her questions. They each place a hand on her back, ushering her down a hallway. She numbly walks between them until they come to an office. Inside the office, she sits down on the couch that was in there, Warrick and Catherine sitting on each side of her. The sick feeling in her stomach was growing, unsure what they were going to tell her. “Please… _please—_ just tell me what happened to Nick—“

“At the scene he was working earlier, Nick was taken…he’s been kidnapped.” Catherine says. Elizabeth grabs one of her hands, holding on to it tightly. Her lips purse together as the breath suddenly leaves her body; she could feel the panic attack coming on but was trying to keep it at bay. This was not the reaction Warrick and Catherine had been expecting, but it was better than they thought. Warrick places a hand on her back, encouraging her to breath. “I know…I know that this comes as a shock, but Elizabeth we need your help—“

“I will do whatever.” She says immediately. Catherine could see the sincerity of the statement in her eyes and the set of her jaw; Elizabeth was strong, stronger than she thought she would be. “Just tell me and I will do it. Have they demanded money or—“

“No, we haven’t got a ransom note or anything yet.” Warrick says. Internally he was still blaming himself for all of this. He felt like he had failed Nick, letting this happen. As soon as they realized they were going to have to tell Elizabeth, get her to the lab in case the kidnapper decided to go after her, he vowed to himself that he’d look out for her until they got Nick back. “We just need to know the last time you talked to Nick…”

“Yeah, um—“ She shakes her head, shutting her eyes briefly as she tried to remember. “He, um, called me about quarter after ten or so…told me he was on his way to a scene—“ A lump starts to form in her throat at the memory. “He…he said that he’d call me when he was done. He didn’t think it would take too long so he thought he may be able to come over tonight…” The thought trails off with her voice.

Catherine nods her head, her hand that Elizabeth wasn’t holding patting the young woman on the knee. “Okay, that’s good—“ The time lined up with what they had thought. She knew that Ecklie wanted to treat Elizabeth as a suspect, but no one in the lab was going to allow that. They all knew her, except Grissom who had yet to meet her, and knew that she was incapable of any such thing. This only confirmed it to her. “Has Nick ever mentioned anyone to you that may want to harm him?”

Elizabeth thinks for a moment, trying to recall any relevant information. Nick talked about work to her sometimes, but he never mentioned anything like Catherine was looking for. “No…he hasn’t. I’m sorry—“

“That’s okay, it’s okay…” Warrick says. He takes a deep breath as he looks to Catherine. “Look…until we know more, we’d like you to hang out here. We will keep you updated—“

“Has anyone called Nick’s parents?” Elizabeth asks. She figured someone had; she hoped someone had…she really did not want to be the ones to tell them about this. She hadn’t ever even met them or talked to them.

“Yes, I called them right before I called you.” Catherine tells her. “They are on their way from Austin right now. We’ll let you know when they get here.”

Elizabeth nods her head as she leans back on the couch. Letting go of Catherine’s hand, she lets out a sigh and runs a hand over her face, knocking her glasses askew. Her mind was running a million miles a minute; she was exhausted yet wide awake. She also felt sick to her stomach, the thought of Nick being who knows where and not knowing if he was safe. Nick’s voice was bouncing through her mind as well. “Thank you guys…for telling me.” Both of them tell her that of course, there wasn’t any way they weren’t going to tell her. Catherine tells her to hang out in her office, maybe try and get some sleep, and they would come tell her when they had more information. With another promise of more information and the offer to bring her a drink, Catherine and Warrick leave the office. Elizabeth stays sitting on the couch, pulling her legs up and folding them under her.

* * *

A few hours later, Catherine enters her office, seeing Elizabeth laying on the couch. She expects her to be asleep, but she’s staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. “Elizabeth?” The young woman sits up, lightning fast, turning to look at Catherine expectantly. Elizabeth had been in the office this whole time, waiting patiently, not bothering the team and letting them work. “Nick’s parents are here. We’ve got some information we’re going to tell them, if you want to sit in on it.” She nods her head, standing up and crossing the room. As the two of them walk, Catherine quickly recounts to the brunette that the kidnapper had reached out and was demanding a ransom.

The two of them make their way through the lab, people throwing sympathetic looks towards Elizabeth. “I’ve never met his parents before…never even talked to them.” Elizabeth says suddenly. Catherine glances at her for a moment, raising an eyebrow. “We just…we just hadn’t gotten to that point yet. We’ve been talking about going down to Texas though…maybe this summer sometime.”

Catherine doesn’t say anything; Nick had mentioned something to the effect to her as well, lamenting the fact that she hadn’t met his parents yet. She shakes her head as they near the break room where the Stokes are waiting inside, Grissom outside. Catherine introduces Elizabeth to Grissom before they go inside.

When the three people enter the room, Bill and Jillian Stokes stand. The two Stokes look from Catherine and Gil to Elizabeth. A flash of recognition runs across Jillian’s face upon seeing the woman. The three of them had never met, but when Nick had told his mother about the new woman that he was dating, naturally she had asked for a picture, earning one of the two of them together at what looked like a sports bar. “Even under the circumstances…its nice to finally meet you Elizabeth.” Jillian says, holding out her hand to shake Elizabeth’s. Bill repeats the sentiment, shaking her hand as well. As Grissom and Catherine introduce themselves to Nick’s parents, Elizabeth moves around the table to sit next to Jillian, across from Grissom and Catherine.

“I’m, um, I’m sorry that we’re meeting under these circumstances.” Grissom says as he sits down.

“Have you been able to make contact with the animals who took my son?” Judge Stokes says, getting down to business. His briskness doesn’t take Elizabeth by surprise, Nick had told her multiple times about his parents.

“No, we haven’t yet, but they should be contacting us in roughly four hours.” Catherine makes eye contact with each of us, but settles on Bill.

“We were able to rustle up $20,000 cash.” Bill pats the manila envelope in front of him as Jillian twists at her fingers. “Our bank’s prepared to wire another $100,000. Now, we can sell the cars. We can hock the ranch—”

“I have some that I can kick in too.” Elizabeth cuts in. The eyes in the room cut to her, not expecting her to offer any money. When her moms had died, everything they owned had been left to Elizabeth and her brother, which provided them with enough to make it through school debt-free. When their mom’s, Anne, parents passed away they had also left everything to their grandchildren. David was currently using his inheritance to live off of, so that bills wouldn’t be so tight for the ER resident. Elizabeth however, had placed all of hers in a money market account where it had been accruing interest for the last four years, earning her a nice little nest egg she didn’t know how she would use someday. “Its only half of what they’re asking for but…”

“Could we give them what we have?” Jillian says, reaching over to slide the envelope towards Grissom and Catherine. The two CSI’s look at each other briefly before looking at the three people across from them. “Buy some more time?”

Grissom shakes his head minutely. “I don’t think that will help.”

Jillian retreats her hand as Nick’s parents stare blankly at Gil and Catherine. Elizabeth folds her hands under the table, trying to control her breathing. “There’s got to be something we can do.” Bill finally says.

“You’ve already done it by coming here, by showing your support—”

“We’re not here to show support.” Jillian cuts Catherine off with a bite in her voice now. “We’re here to get Nick home.”

Catherine just nods her head as heavy silence starts to settle over the room. “We’re not sure who has Nick…or why.” Grissom knew that piece of information would be the hardest for the three to digest, but he also knew that was what they wanted to know.

Elizabeth’s eyes flutter shut as she swallows back the bile that was threatening to escape. “Well…” She hears Bill say. “What the hell do you know?”

“Very little.” Grissom answers honestly.

Elizabeth’s eyes finally open, immediately locking on with the older man sitting across the table from her. Nick had told her some about Grissom, commenting how the two would most likely get along with both being of an academic nature. In that moment though, her patience was wearing thin with the man. “What proof do you have that Nick’s even still alive?” Her voice comes out harder than she had meant for it to. Despite that, one of Jillian’s hands come up to cover her folded ones on top of the table.

Catherine and Grissom share a look before asking the three people to follow them. Together, the five people start a trek back through the lab, the workers in the lab trying their hardest not to stare at them. Down another hallway, they walk into a lab where Catherine and Grissom direct their attention to a large screen behind a computer. The three of them stop dead in our tracks when they see Nick on the screen. All of Elizabeth’s worst nightmares were coming true, watching him laying in a box underground. It felt real now…like this was really happening. Nick’s mom lets out a quiet gasp; after a moment, she runs out of the room. “Oh Poncho, what the hell did you get yourself into?” Nick’s dad says right before leaving the room. Elizabeth couldn’t move; she was stone, rooted to the spot.

After another moment, Catherine leaves the room as well. “How…um…” Elizabeth clears her throat; her voice sounded hoarse and gravelly now. “How is he still breathing? That box doesn’t look very big and if he’s been in there-“

“We think there is a secondary air supply.” Grissom says from behind her. He was impressed by the question, even more impressed by how calm she seemed. Elizabeth keeps staring at Nick; he had his arm over his eyes like he does when he naps on the couch.

“And this is live?” She asks next. Warrick tells her that it is as he comes up to stand next to her. “Does this stay on continuously?”

“It shuts off after a few minutes.” Warrick says, pointing to the countdown under the video of Nick. “But we’re able to turn it back on.” She nods her head, still staring at the screen. Warrick suddenly felt uncomfortable, he wasn’t sure how to handle Elizabeth…especially because she seemed to calm. “Why don’t we, uh—“

“No.” Elizabeth snaps; she knew that Warrick was going to tell her to walk away. “I’m staying. Unless I am legally not allowed to…I’m staying.” No one else says anything else. Elizabeth keeps staring at the screen, replaying the last conversation she had with him; it had been right before she had left to go to work yesterday, after the nightmare incident. They had talked about something routine, maybe if they were going to watch a movie when Nick got off work or something. “I had this nightmare yesterday. It wasn’t the first time I’d had it…but last night was different.” She lets out a deep breath, as she runs a hand through her hair. Warrick shifts next to her, crossing his arms over his chest. “In the dream, I’m sitting in Nick’s living room, in a black dress…just sitting there. Then…I just know. This feeling just washes over me…and I lose it. I just know that he’s…gone. I had that dream last night and it felt…so damn real…”

“We’re going to get him back.” Warrick says. Elizabeth nods her head as Warrick wraps an arm around her shoulders. She maybe be the girlfriend of the victim of the case he was working, but right now she was also family and Warrick was going to make sure he took care of Nick’s girl…no matter what happened.

* * *

A couple hours later, Elizabeth is still staring at Nick on the screen in the lab. No one had dared ask her to leave or even suggest it. She is finally broken away by her cell phone ringing in her pocket. Pulling it out, she sees that it’s Sam. “Shit…work.” Elizabeth walks out of the lab, pressing the phone to her ear. “Sam…”

“Where the hell are you?” Sam snaps at her. There was a bite in her voice, her annoyance obvious. “We have two tours here and-“

“Nick was kidnapped last night,” Elizabeth snaps back, a bite in her voice as well. “Needless to say, I’m not coming in.”

“Holy shit.” Sam responds after a minute. “Elizabeth…I— do you need anything? Are you at the—“

“I’m at the crime lab.” She tells her, her voice softer now. “They’re….uh, keeping me updated. Hey, can you do me a favor and call my brother, fill him in…tell him I’ll call him when I know more?” She tells her that she will and hangs up after telling her to call her if she needs anything. While Elizabeth had been talking to Sam, she had been wandering down the hall. It probably wasn’t smart, but it landed her in front of Grissom’s office right as him and Catherine were arguing over who would bring the ransom money to the kidnapper. It seemed that Catherine had gotten it from her father, but department policy forbade her or anyone in the lab from taking it to the kidnapper. “I’ll do it.” Elizabeth says, stepping into the doorway. She hadn’t even thought it through before she volunteered.

“No, you-“

“That’s not-“ Both of them were shaking their heads, wearing incredulous looks.

“Why not?” Elizabeth offers, walking up to stand next to Catherine. “I’m not a government employee…I’m not family…I’m a private citizen. Let me bring the money.”

“Where will you say you got the money?” Grissom says. He was remaining calm, actually thinking through the possibility.

“Does it really matter?” Elizabeth shrugs, starting to grow frustrated. “Just say it was given anonymously. But we’re sitting here while Nick is still out there and time is running out.” Catherine and Grissom both look at each other; though they hated to admit it, it wasn’t a bad idea. After a moment or two, they both nod their heads, agreeing to the plan. “Okay…now where do I go?”

* * *

Elizabeth walks into the warehouse, her footsteps echoing with each step. The bag with the money in it felt like it weighed a million pounds. “Hello?” she calls out. A voice from deeper in the building calls out telling her to come through the door. As she walks towards the door, she looks around, trying to take in every detail: a dead dog, a box filled with random items, a pile of blankets. Finally, she makes it to the doorway halfway through the building and steps through.

On the other side of the doorway, a man is at a desk across the room, looking at a computer screen. “Pretty quiet outside…” the voice drones out, sending chills down her spine. “Almost sounds like you came alone.”

“Well, you said to.” Elizabeth calls out. She squints her eyes, trying to make out his face as she stops walking. “I’ve got your money.”

The guy stands up, leaning on the desk. “Put it down.” She obeys, setting the leather bag on the ground. The man steps out from behind the desk, a flashlight in his hand shining on the ground. “Slide it over.” She bends down, putting both hands on the bag and push it as hard as she can, sending the bag sliding across the floor. It finally comes to a stop a few feet from the man. He walks down the couple of steps from the platform he was on and over to the bag. He points the flashlight down at it, looking at it. “You’re telling me there’s a million dollars in here.”

“Yes—“

“Along with some cute little booby traps?” the guy says. Elizabeth can see more of his face now; he was medium height, white hair thinning on top. He didn’t look like a psychopath, like a kidnapper. “Which is it—a tracer, a dye pack?”

Elizabeth snaps at him while trying to remain calm. “Normally you might be right, but not right now. I just want Nick back…no tricks.”

He squats down and unzips the bag. Grabbing one of the stacks of cash, he pulls it out, and shines the flashlight on it. “This looks real.” He chuckles.

“It is real.” Elizabeth says, still trying not to lose her cool. She wasn’t wearing a wire or anything; she was totally on her own except for the officers and CSI team half a mile down the road. So, if anything happened to her, it would be a while before anyone found out. “Where is Nick?”

The man stands back up, the stack of money still in his hand. “You know, I was under the impression it was against departmental policy to negotiate with terrorists.”

“I don’t work for the department.” She was growing impatient; He was obviously trying to play mind games with her. “Why, are you a terrorist?”

“Depends…” he says. He jerks the flashlight up, shining it in her face. The woman remains still, only her eyes squinting slightly at the bright light…not wanting to show this guy any fear. “Are you terrified?”

“Look, I really don’t want to talk to you,” She says. “Where is--“

“Oh, so…is he what? Your guy? Your beaux?” the guy taunts Elizabeth.

“Yes, he is.” She answers him, clenching and unclenching her fist. “Where is he buried?”

“Have you two been together long?”

“That’s none of your business.” She answers through her teeth.

“What does Nick Stokes mean to you?” The guy’s flashlight was finally off her face, so she uses the moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath to calm herself. “How do you feel when you see him in that coffin? Does your soul die every time you push that button? How do you feel, knowing that there’s nothing you can do to get him out of that hell? Helpless…useless…impotent? Good. Welcome to my world.” The man suddenly opens his jacket and shines the light on his stomach, revealing two blocks labelled ‘Semtex’. Elizabeth had picked up enough from Nick to know that the guy was a walking bomb now. His hand near his stomach presses a button, causing a ticking noise to start. “Uh, if I were you, I’d back up a little.”

Elizabeth barely has time to react, only taking a couple steps towards the door, before the man blows up in front of her. The force from the explosion throws her backwards against the wall. As she hits the ground, she sees the money floating through the air. Feeling the blood running down her face, not sure if it was hers or the man’s, she tries to push herself up some. Nothing was left of the man, just blood everywhere and money floating through the air like confetti. After a second, her eyes flutter shut and she passes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from CSI or the storyline I adapted for this story. I only own my own original characters.


	10. Fire Ants

_“What the hell were you thinking??_ ” David says again, even louder this time. Elizabeth bites back a groan; once she had regained consciousness and gotten a prelim clearance from paramedics, she knew the first thing she needed to do was to call David. Of course, he was freaking out on her, earning some inquisitive glances from his co-workers in the break room. “ _You walked into a damn warehouse with a damn psychopath-“_

“A psychopath that has Nick.” Elizabeth snaps back. She wasn’t about to let him lecture her; she didn’t regret going before the psychopath and wasn’t going to act like it. David doesn’t say anything, but she could practically see him throwing his hand in the air, not seeing his sister’s side of things. “This guy has Nick somewhere and I had to do what I can to get him back. And like I told you, the paramedics-“

“Who usually don’t know a hole in the ground from their own ass-“

“Said that I am fine. Possibly a minor concussion, but I am fine.” She tells him again.

David lets out a sigh, not placated by the prognosis. He wanted to head out there himself to check her out but knew the hospital wouldn’t let him leave. “Well, did you even get any information out of the psycho?”

Elizabeth chews on her bottom lip as she looks down at the ground below; her feet, a pair of shoes that Catherine had loaned her since hers had been covered in blood, swinging above the dirt as she sits in the back of the ambulance. “Yeah…the team got some info they can work with.” She flat out lies to him. She had told Grissom and Catherine everything that was said between her and the man, but wasn’t sure if anything that was said would actually help. “They’re processing the scene right now…trying to get some more leads.”

“You know they’ll get him back…right?” His tone had taken on a gentler tone, trying to be supportive for his sister, but he wasn’t sure if he believed his own statement. David was a pessimist whereas Elizabeth was an optimist. With the kidnapper now dead…he was having a hard time believing Nick would be found. But he would never let his sister know he thought that.

“Yeah, I know.” Elizabeth responds with a sigh. When she looks up, Warrick is walking towards her. “Hey, I’m gonna let you go. I love you ‘till beyond.”

“Love you ‘till beyond.” David responds. “I’m seriously when I say let me know if you need anything.”

Elizabeth tells him okay and goodbye once again before hanging up. As she sets the phone down next to her, Warrick walks up and sitting down on the back of the ambulance next to her. He hands her a bottle of water he had brought along, the woman accepting it with a smile as he nods towards her phone. “Family?”

She nods her head, sitting the bottle down unopened. “My brother…he’s a resident at Desert Palm. So naturally he’s freaking out on me.”

Warrick shakes his head. “Yeah, I would be too.” They both knew they were each both thinking of another person that would be freaking out in this moment. Nick would not be happy when he found out what Elizabeth had done.

“When we get Nick back, could you and the team not tell him about this?” Warrick starts to question what she means but she stops him. “I mean, I know you can’t not tell him what happened…but just let me be the one to tell him I was the one who delivered the money?”

“Yeah,” Warrick says, nodding his head. “Yeah, okay.” The two sit there for a few more moments in silence, watching others around them running around them, carrying out various tasks. Elizabeth vaguely wonders why Warrick wasn’t inside with the rest of the team; maybe he was taking a break. Him and Catherine had taken very good care of her during this whole thing, to which she was grateful. “I gotta say…I’m pretty damn impressed with how well you’re, you know, handling all this—“

“You mean the fact that I’m not crying and in hysterics?” She looks to him, arching an eyebrow. Warrick just nods his head, not wanting to admit out loud that was what he meant, trying not to insult her. “It’s because I can’t. I just…I literally can’t. I just…” She turns to face him, leaning back against the doorway of the ambulance. “I feel like I have to be strong, you know? Like, when this is all over, when we have him back, I know that things aren’t going to go back to normal right away. So, I have stay strong and steady now, so that I can be then.”

“I’ve known Nick…quite a few years now.” Warrick says, letting out a sigh. “We’ve seen a lot of stuff together. I’ve also seen a lot of girls come and go.” He looks over at Elizabeth, smirking slightly. “But the day after your first date…man, he wouldn’t shut up about you.” The way he says it makes her laugh a little, Warrick chuckling too. “I mean, literally would not stop talking about you. Still wouldn’t stop after the second day. That’s when I knew this one was different.”

Elizabeth lets out a sigh, letting her head fall back against the door behind her. “We got to get him back Warrick…” Warrick nods his head; she was preaching to the choir. “We just…we haven’t had enough time.” He looks at her now with a confused glance; she had lost him. “Me and Nick…seven months isn’t enough time. Like you said…this one is different. Seven months isn’t enough time. I mean, we have all these big things we want to do…but we haven’t got to do them yet.”

“You’ll get your time.” Warrick reaches over, resting a hand on her knee. “I’ll make sure of it.”

* * *

After she was released from the scene, Elizabeth was brought to her apartment to shower and change, and then was right back at the lab. The AV guy, Archie, had let her in and led her to the back. When she enters the AV lab, Warrick was back already, watching Nick on the screen again. “You got back here quickly.” Elizabeth remarks, sitting down in the high seated chair next to him. Warrick nods his head, sipping at a coffee. She takes a drink of her own as they both watch the video feed end. With a sigh, Warrick reaches out and starts it back up again. Her eyebrows scrunch together as she notices Nick yell something; he looked aggravated. Neither one of them say anything to each other as they keep watching Nick. When Warrick turns the video back on again, Nick yells something again. Elizabeth debates on whether to say something or not. “You all don’t have like a…lip reading program or anything? Do you?” Warrick looks over at her, arching an eyebrow to answer the question. “Don’t judge me…I’m a historian…not a tech person.”

The video goes off a couple more times and each time Nick looks more frustrated. She watches Nick as he starts unwrapping what looked like a piece of bubblegum. Warrick and her both lean closer to the screen as Nick chews the gum and then sticks half a piece in each ear. “What are you doing Nicky?” Warrick almost mumbles. Then, Nick brings a gun into view, pulling back the slide. “What are you doing Nicky?” He repeats, more serious this time. Elizabeth’s heart stops when Nick pulls the gun up, aiming the barrel at his chin. “Don’t do it Nicky…” Warrick says loudly, standing up. She was frozen; Elizabeth could not move; she couldn’t open her mouth to make any noise. He wasn’t actually going to do this. This wasn’t Nick. He wouldn’t do this. Nick moves suddenly, a flash from the gun going off, and then the screen goes dark. _“You son of a bitch!”_ Warrick yells but he sounded distant to Elizabeth. She still doesn’t move; Her arms had twisted and clutched to her chest. She didn’t know what to do…

Then, a green light fills the screen and there is Nick, moving around and breathing…alive. Warrick laughs in relief as he leans forward on the desk. Elizabeth still doesn’t move though. “You’re still alive.” Warrick says. She can feel his eyes on her as he looks back at the brunette. “Hey, you—“

“I’m gonna, um, go get some more coffee.” Elizabeth says, her voice sounding robotic. Warrick’s eyebrows crease together as he looks at her. She stands up quickly, grabbing her empty cup off the desk and walking out of the lab before Warrick can say anything to her. When she gets to the breakroom, Elizabeth walks up to the coffee pot and refills the cup. She can barely register the heat radiating through the thin cup as she walks over and sits down in one of the arm chairs. Once sitting, she places the cup on the table in front of her. Sitting there, she tries to process everything that had happened so far. Nick had been kidnapped, a man blew himself up in front of her, for a moment she thought Nick had just… Before she even realizes it, silent tears were running down her face. A hand was suddenly between her shoulder blades, rubbing soothing circles. Looking to her left, Elizabeth sees Sara sitting there, not looking at her, but still comforting her. The two women sit there, neither saying a word as Elizabeth finally starts crying.

* * *

Elizabeth was living at CSI now. Nick’s parents brought her food when they came to get an update, but other than that they were staying at the Bellagio. The team was only slightly closer to finding Nick, knowing now, at least, who had taken him and why, but that was it. She stays in the breakroom, trying not to be in anyone’s way. As time crept away, she was starting to grow a little worried, because she hadn’t talked to anyone them in a while.

Suddenly, there is a flurry of action outside the breakroom. Stepping up to the doorway, her heartbeat racing as people were running past, towards the exit. As the team passes by, Warrick grabs her, pulling her along with them. “What’s—“

“We found him.” Warrick says. “We found Nick.” Elizabeth’s gait picks as she tries keep up with everyone. When they reach the parking lot, she climbs in the backseat of Warrick’s Tahoe, Catherine getting in the passenger seat and Greg climbing in the back next to her.

Catherine explains as Warrick drives about how Nick is at a nursery the kidnapper’s daughter used to work at. “When we get there,” she says once they hit the highway. “You stick close to me. Don’t touch anything…because you’re a civilian…but stay close to me.” Elizabeth nods her head, telling her that she would.

The miles seem to get longer and longer the further the caravan of police cars drive out of town. When they finally reach the nursery, Elizabeth gets out of the Tahoe with the team, slipping on a CSI jacket Greg had found in the car so that no one would question her being there. The large group all follow the owner, who was confused about why Grissom would be interested in finding a fire ant mound. Grissom explains to everyone where to search and what to look for before the whole fleet of officers and CSI’s split up. Like she had told her to, Elizabeth sticks next to Catherine, shining a flashlight towards the ground as the older woman uses a machine to search for the web cam transmitter. After walking a couple minutes, the machine starts beeping faster. “Hey! I’m picking up the web cam transmitter!” Catherine calls out to whoever would listen. Everyone near the pair diverts their routes and starts searching nearer to the area. As they’re walking, Elizabeth almost trips over something. When they look back at it, they see that it’s a pipe sticking out of the ground. Catherine then spots something else on the ground, dropping to her knees, and digs up the transmitter.  “This is it! I found it!” She calls out, over and over again until everyone was running towards them. Using basic logic, Elizabeth figures out that if that was the transmitter, then the pipe much be what was getting him air.

“Nick!” Her mouth close to the pipe, she yells down, praying that Nick could hear her. “We’re here! Hold on! Nick! We’re here!”

Remembering what Catherine had told her, Elizabeth steps back as Warrick and other officers start digging. After a few minutes of digging, Warrick finally says that he hit something. Then, he gets down on his knees, using his hands to move the dirt. Finally, the box starts to become exposed. “Hey! We got you man!” Warrick yells as he uncovers more of the box. “Hey, Nicky! Nick! Yeah, hey, hold on there.” Elizabeth looks down at the box and see Nick’s hand come up to the top. “Hey, put that down!” Warrick says. “We got you. We’re gonna get you out of there.” The brunette moves up with everyone else to look down at the box; Catherine clutches at the back of her arm when they see Nick’s face. Warrick calls for a fire extinguisher to kill the ants that were still eating at Nick. When Greg brings one over, Grissom tells them to use short bursts so they don’t suffocate him. As they work to clear out the ants, Catherine’s phone goes off. She steps away to answer the call, Elizabeth focused on the activity continuing in front of her. Suddenly, the older woman runs back up to the scene, right as they are about to lift the lid on the box. “Everyone out of the hole! The box is ready to explode!”

Everyone, sharing equal looks of shock, all turn back to look at her. “Are you kidding me?” Warrick exclaims. She repeats her command as Greg and the other couple officers climb out of the hole. “I’m not leaving without Nick.”

“There are charges under the box!” Catherine yells by way of explanation.

“Catherine’s right,” Grissom says. “Warrick, get out of the hole now.” Warrick, the only person still in the hole, reluctantly climbs out as Nick starts yelling again, pounding on the box. “We need two hundred pounds of dirt over here right now and we’re going to use that backhoe to get it.” Grissom says as Nick keeps screaming. As people move to follow Grissom’s command, he turns to Elizabeth who was looking even more helpless. “You have to go down in there and explain to him—“

“What??” Her voice raises a couple octaves, not expecting to be a part of this. To be honest, she was wondering why they hadn’t just sent her to the hospital to wait on them. “Why me—“

“You are the only person he will listen to here.” Grissom says. She bites at her bottom lip, willing herself not to argue with him. Nodding her head, she silently tells him to continue, that she would do whatever. “Tell him we have a plan to get him out, but he has to stay laying down.” Grissom crudely and quickly explains the plan to her.

Nodding her head again, she steps around him and climbs down in the hole on top of the box with the assistance of Warrick. When she’s over top of him, Nick doesn’t even notice, he just keeps screaming for help. “Nick! Nick! Calm down—“ It was no use. He wasn’t listen to her, if anything, seeing her only made him yell harder. “Nicolas!” She yells, using his full name. He hated when people used his full name and Elizabeth only used it when she was _extremely_ annoyed at him. That finally gets his attention and he stops yelling, looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “Nick, listen to me…” She places a hand on the box, splaying her fingers out. “Put your hand on my hand, so that I know you’re listening.” He listens to her, shakily placing his hand against hers under the plexiglass. “Good. Listen, we are going to get you out of here, but it’s going to take a minute. Your team says there may be explosives under the box. Something about pressure switches, so they are going to equalize your bodyweight. Do you understand?” Nick weakly nods his head as the fingers on his other hand run along the top of the glass, as if he was reaching for the woman on the other side. Behind her, Elizabeth can hear Grissom ordering people around for the backhoe. “Nick, when we open the box, you _have_ to stay laying down—or else you’ll blow us all up…okay?” Nick nods his head, stronger this time. “Do you understand?” he nods his head again, weakly repeating that he understands. “Okay, I’m gonna go right here—“ She points to her right, right next to his head. “I’ll be right there when they open the box.” After Nick nods his head again, she climbs out of the box, Warrick giving her a hand out.

Like she had told him, Elizabeth kneels down in the dirt right by his head before Grissom and Warrick open the box. Immediately, Nick’s hand reaches out, grabbing onto whatever he could of the people next to him. All three of them tell him to stay down, that they had him. Elizabeth takes a silent deep breath, looking him over as her grip tightens on his hand; almost every inch of him was covered in bites, looking more painful than anything she had ever dealt with. After a few seconds, the backhoe arrives and Warrick and Grissom attach the rope and clip to Nicks belt. Grissom explains to him to take a deep breath and hold it on his signal. Nick nods his head at him before Warrick, Grissom, and Elizabeth move away from the hole, Nick keeping contact with the woman until she was out of reach. While Warrick and Grissom join the others lined up to pull Nick out of the hole, Elizabeth moves to stand by Catherine and Sara, who were standing quite a way back. On Grissom’s signal, the back hoe dumps the dirt right on top of Nick and a split second later the group holding onto the rope connected to Nick’s belt pulls him out. As he comes flying out of the hole, the earth underneath him explodes. Elizabeth lets out an involuntary scream, a flashback from the explosion she had encountered earlier in the day. Once the ringing in her ears stop, Catherine has her arms around Elizabeth, telling her that she was okay. Elizabeth nods her head, the two women and Sara walking over to where Nick was.

The paramedics are on him already, wiping the dirt off him, checking him out, and then loading him onto a stretcher. Warrick and Elizabeth follow after it, climbing into the ambulance with him and one of the paramedics. When the doors shut, Nick’s hand comes out from under the coat they had laid over him. Elizabeth grabs onto it, Nick holding on so tight her fingers start turning white. When the ambulance pulls into the emergency bay, Elizabeth and Warrick hang back as the paramedics unload Nick from the rig. His parents are at the ambulance entrance, waiting on them along with another familiar face. On their way to the hospital, Elizabeth had requested (after a nod of approval from Nick) for the paramedics to call ahead a request for Dr. David Jansen to be part of the team waiting on them. Once Elizabeth climbs out of the ambulance, David is right there, pulling her into a hug. “I got him, okay?” He pulls back slightly and nods his head once before helping the paramedics and a nurse push Nick inside. With a clearing of a throat, Elizabeth looks over to Nick’s parents and Warrick, who were giving her confused stares.

Elizabeth waves a hand towards the automatic doors they had disappeared through. “That was Dr. David Jansen…my brother.” She explains. Warrick nods his head in understanding, having heard about her brother from Nick; but the Stokes were still confused. “He was adopted.”

Nick’s mom stares at her for a moment longer before smiling. “He’ll be in good hands then. Come, you can show us where the waiting room is.”

* * *

 

As Nick starts to wake up, the first thing he sees is Elizabeth. She wasn’t awake, instead she was curled up in a recliner with a blanket pulled up to her chin. Even from the bed, Nick could tell she was deep asleep. As he turns his head towards the door, his parents walk in. His mom covers her mouth in happy surprise when she sees he’s awake. “My boy…” she says quietly. “My baby boy…”

Nick reaches a hand up and places it on her back as she leans down and kisses his face multiple times. “Hey mom.”

“Poncho…” His dad leans down, giving him a hug as well. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Nick answers honestly. His parents each grab a chair and pull it up to his bed. “Sore.” His skin also felt like it was on fire, an after effect from the fire ant bites.

His parents catch him looking over at Elizabeth. “She’s been here the whole time.” His mom says. “Only fell asleep an hour or so ago. We can wake-“

“No, no,” Nick says, grabbing his mom’s hand. “Let her sleep. You’d never be able to wake her anyway…sleeps like the dead.”

His dad chuckles quietly to himself. “That is one strong woman you got there.” He says. “This whole time…damn I don’t think I saw her shed a single tear. Just hung around, waiting for updates.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.” Nick says. He turns his head again to look over at her. She looked peaceful, like they hadn’t just gone through the hell they had. “That’s my girl.”


	11. Yeah, We're Really Doing This

It’s usually the mumbling and talking in his sleep that wakes Elizabeth up. Ever since Nick was released from the hospital, she had turned into a light sleeper, scared something else was going to happen to him. Tonight, however, it’s the vice grip he has on her forearm. “Nick…” She tries to turn around to face him, but it was difficult with him sleeping behind her, his arms wrapped around her, and his hand keeping ahold of her arm. “Nick, sweetheart, wake up…” After she’s able to turn slightly, she places a hand on the side of his face; that usually calms him down. His grip only tightens though, causing Elizabeth to bite back a whimper of pain. “Nick, honey, please wake up…” The gentle approach wasn’t working tonight. She says his name with more force, moving her hand to his chest to shake it. As he wakes, he finally lets go of her arm and then his eyes fly open. “Hey, hey, you’re okay. You’re here with me…you’re okay.”

* * *

A few hours later, when it’s officially time to be awake, Elizabeth is in Nick’s kitchen, cooking breakfast when he gets up. Ever since he had been released from the hospital, she had stayed with him. His parents had gone back to Texas a couple days after he was released, believing that he was in good hands with the young woman. It had been a week and he was slowly getting better. The physical signs of the event were gone, but the emotional ones were still there. Nightmares were a nightly occurrence, Elizabeth had gotten used to them and Nick never talked about them out loud. He had mentioned them to the mandatory therapist he had to see, but never talked about them with Elizabeth. The grip on her arm that resulted in a bruise wrapping around my whole forearm was a new thing. She had on a robe with long sleeves, trying to cover it up. As she’s lost in thought, pushing some bacon around in a skillet, Nick comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, nuzzling his nose to her neck. “Good morning…”

“Morning…” Elizabeth responds, turning her head slightly so that their lips connect for a moment. When she turns back to the food in the skillet in front of her, Nick stays where he is, his hands coming to rest on her hips. “Do you have any plans for today?” It was Saturday, Elizabeth off work and Nick still on leave.

“No,” he says, resting his chin on her shoulder to peek at what she was cooking. Early in their relationship Elizabeth had solidified the position of cook, Nick lucky if he could fry chicken without burning it. “Do you?”

“Not a one,” She tells him. “Would you like to go out and do something? Or stay in?” She was hoping he’d say stay in. If they went out, she’d have to wear a long sleeve shirt to hide the bruise on her arm and it was far too warm outside to justify wearing one.

“We could maybe go out for lunch…” Nick muses. He moves to stand next to the stove, leaning against the counter. “Then just see what there is to do…”

Elizabeth nods her head, not saying anything. After a couple of minutes, the food is done so she takes it off the stove, moving it to the other side of the stove. She had to tell him about what had happened during the night; hiding it wasn’t going to help anything. “If we go out,” Elizabeth speaks cautiously, gauging her words. The look on Nick’s face tells her that he could tell she was calculating her words. “If we go out…I’ll have to wear a long sleeve shirt…”

His eyebrows furrow together as he gives her a confused look. “Why would—“ He stops his question as Elizabeth holds her arm out, lifting up the sleeve of the robe. His eyes go to the bruise immediately, his face showing every emotion yet no emotion at all. He stares at it for a few moments before finally saying something. “Did I…” one of his hands come up, gently grasping her wrist and turning her arm around to look at the whole thing. There was no denying it was a handprint. “Did I do this?”

“Last night.” Elizabeth nods her head. “You were asleep…so I know it was accidental—“ She stops when Nick drops her arms and walks away, his back turned to her. Elizabeth was at a loss for what to say; there really was nothing to say in this situation. There wasn’t a need for Nick to apologize, but the guilt in his face was evident. After a couple more minutes of silence, she finally walks over to him and stands in front of him. He looks away from her, not able to meet her eye. “Nick, look at me—“ He tries to turn away, but she grabs his shoulders to stop him. “Nick, stop, look at me.” He finally reluctantly meets her eyes. The guilt in his was almost overwhelming. “This is not your fault…at all, okay?” Nick starts to contradict her but she stops him. “No…no it is not. It is the product of this horrible, awful thing that happened to you and we both know who is was responsible for that. Look, I am with you one hundred percent, no matter what. This—“ She indicates towards the bruise without showing it. “This will go away. This is temporary. I am fine.” Nick stares at her for a moment, his eyes still looking sad but not as guilt-ridden. He finally nods his head, accepting what she had said. “Now, how about we just stay in today.”

“Yeah,” Nick says. “Yeah, that sounds good. I may see if Warrick wants to come over and watch the game tonight…” And just like that the conversation slips away from the bruise.

* * *

Life was finally back to normal and had been for a few weeks. Nick was back at work, cleared to go back out in the field. Elizabeth was no longer staying at his place nightly, with him going back to graveyard shift; but on nights that he was off one of them always stayed at the others place. Nick was for the most part back to normal. He felt slightly different, more cautious, a little more guarded.

Elizabeth, however, was still trying to stay strong for him. Even four months after the event, she was still keeping her guard up. David had suggested she see a therapist, _“I mean…a guy did blow himself up in front of you…”_ He argued. She could see his point, but was hesitant to do so. Mainly because Nick still didn’t know the full details of what had happened.

About a month after Nick had returned to work, he sends her text while she was at work. _We need to talk about something._

Elizabeth reads the message, running through her mind what it could be. _Okay, is it urgent or can it wait until tonight?_ She hadn’t seen him yet today because the case he had worked the night before had spilled over into the day, but was off tonight.

 _It is urgent, but it can wait until tonight,_ he replies. Her eyebrows raise as she types back asking if he could give her a hint, but he never responds. His silence makes her stomach turn in an uncomfortable way, nervous about what he could want to talk about.

That night when she leaves work, she heads over to his apartment, letting herself in with the key he had given her. She calls out for him and he responds, saying he was in the living room. When Elizabeth walks into the living room, he’s sitting on the edge of the couch with a file spread out on the coffee table in front of him. He doesn’t look up at her, but she could tell just by looking at the tension in his posture that he was _pissed_ about something. “What’s the file?” she asks, sitting her bag down in an arm chair. She also toes her heels off as Nick slowly looks up at her.

“You’ve met David Hodges before, right? At the lab?” Nick says. His voice sounded hard and it gave Elizabeth goosebumps. “Smart as a whip…got a big mouth though…”

 _He knows,_ the realization crashes down on her as soon as he says it. Hodges must have mentioned to Nick about Elizabeth meeting with his kidnapper. Instead of owning up to it though, she decides to play dumb. “Really? Oh, I bet that gets on your nerves.” She says a little too flippantly.

“You know it does usually, but not today.” He says; his voice stays steady, but had an edge to it. He knew that she knew what he was talking about and the fact she was denying it was only making him angrier. She had been moving to sit next to him on the couch, but instead stops so that she’s across the coffee table from him. “You wanna tell me why he would be asking me how you’re doing after confronting the guy who kidnapped me?”

Elizabeth swallows hard, her eyes growing wide for second. She wraps her arms around her waist as her voice grows weak. “Oh…”

“You know, I pretty much know all the details of what happened,” he says, placing his hands on his hips as he stands. His voice was even, just like he kept it while doing an interrogation. “There were just some details that I didn’t know.”

“Nick, I—“

“So imagine my confusion when Hodges asks me how you are doing after ‘going through what you had to go through’ on top of dealing with me being kidnapped.” Nick says. “When I asked him if he cared to elaborate, he was confused by the fact that I didn’t know _you_ were the one who delivered the money to Gordon and so therefor you had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing Gordon blow himself up.”

Elizabeth takes a deep breath as she reaches up and run a hand through her hair. “You—“ She didn’t know what to say; unfortunately she picks the wrong thing to say. “You don’t get to be mad at me about—“

“ _I don’t get to be mad?”_ He wasn’t yelling, but he might as well have been. She had never seen Nick this mad, especially at her. They had never seriously fought over anything, just little squabbles. “The hell I don’t Elizabeth! Why the hell—“

“Are you at least going to let me explain or are you just going to scold me like I’m five years old?” Elizabeth does yell at him, mainly to get him to hear her.

“Well I’d like some kind of explanation, yeah, since you evidently told Warrick and the team not to tell me about this.” Nick says. When he had been told about what Gordon had done to himself, no one had actually told him _who_ it was that delivered the money, just that someone did. He had assumed it was Grissom, the way everyone talked.

“I told them not to tell you because I wanted to tell you myself.” Elizabeth tries to explain.

“When were you going to tell me then?” Nick says. “This isn’t something you can just hide the rest of your life—“

“I don’t know Nick!” Elizabeth says, throwing her hands in the air. “I don’t know when I was going to tell you—“

“You better start talking right now and tell me—“

“Stop treating me like one of your suspects!” Elizabeth yells at him. The statement makes him shut his mouth; he hadn’t realized he was doing so. “I did nothing wrong, Nick. Yes, I should have told you sooner but I just couldn’t find the right time because I don’t know if you’ve magically forgotten but this hasn’t exactly been the easiest time.”

Nick takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Alright. Start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”

“Okay, so I was outside Grissom’s office when I heard him and Catherine arguing over who would deliver the ransom money.” The brunette starts pacing and talking with her hands, like she did when she was thinking things through. She wanted to be methodical with her explanation, not miss a detail. “Neither one of them technically could and your parents weren’t there at the time so I volunteered—“

“Why would Grissom or Cath let you?” Nick says, standing up and walking out from behind the coffee table. She stops her pacing and faces him. “You’re not a CSI or a trained—“

“Exactly Nick…I’m not a CSI or government employee or anything.” She says. “I was the only who could without getting in any trouble. And come hell or high water, I and the rest of the team was going to do whatever we could in our power to get you back—“

“That doesn’t mean that you go toe-to-toe with a psychopath!” Nick says. “You don’t—“

“No Nick—“ Elizabeth cuts him off, holding a finger up towards him. She was boiling now. Everything she had been holding in since this whole ordeal happened was coming out now. “Okay, put yourself in my shoes, okay? I’m the one in the box. You are helpless. Just watching the person you love most suffering through a screen and not being able to do a damn thing. You don’t know any of the stuff that the people around you know or have anything to contribute. Then there is one thing you can do. So, you do it, no matter the risk. So yeah, I went and I faced Gordon and I gave him the money Catherine got and he blew himself up in front of me and for a split second I thought all hope was lost but you can bet your ass that I would do it all over again. I would do every single thing all over again because in the end it got you back. And I was not going to lose you because we had just got started, we hadn’t had enough time yet and I love you so damn much Nicholas Stokes that I would do everything the exact same way.” Neither one of them says anything once Elizabeth finishes. Everything was out there now. Finally, she moves first, stepping around the coffee table and sinking onto the couch. Her elbows rest on her knees, resting her forehead in her hands; she felt exhausted now. Nick also finally moves, crouching down in front of her, his hands on her knees. Looking up, Elizabeth presses her fingers to her temples and looks at Nick. His face was mostly blank, but he also looked sad. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I should’ve told you sooner I just…”

“You have been so good to me Elizabeth.” Nick says. He takes his hand and places it on the side of her head, pushing the hair back. “I’m sorry I went off on you. I just…when I heard it, I freaked out. I just hate the thought of you being in danger like that.”

“I know,” Elizabeth says, letting out another sigh. “That’s why I wanted to be the one to tell you…I just felt like I could never find a good time.”

The two look at each other for a moment until Nick leans up, pressing his lips to hers. “I’m not mad anymore.” He says when he pulls away. Elizabeth nods her head, one of her hands coming to rest over his. “Have you ate yet?” she shakes her head. “Come on…let’s get some food.”

* * *

Later that night, the two lay in bed, Nick’s fingers running lightly up and down Elizabeth’s back and her head laying on his chest. This felt like back to normal. This felt like before. As they lay there though, her mind wanders back to their conversation earlier in the evening. Now that Nick knew, maybe she would take David up on his advice. “I think I’m going to start seeing a therapist.” She says against Nick’s chest. He hums in recognition, his chest vibrating slightly. “David suggested it. Has a colleague that’ll take me on as a patient.”

“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all this.” Nick says. His arm wraps a little tighter around her as he presses his lips to the top of her head. “That I was so blind that I didn’t even-“

“No, Nick, no—“ She cuts him off, her hand sliding up his chest to grip his shoulder. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. You know you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nick lets out a sigh, his fingers now playing with the ends of her hair. “I was thinking about what you said earlier…about how we were just getting started, we hadn’t had enough time yet…” Elizabeth moves to prop herself on an elbow, looking down at him with an arched eyebrow. He looked, and felt, the happiest he had in a long time…like the last months hadn’t happened. His hand comes up, knuckles gently running along her jawline. “Move in with me.”

Elizabeth stares down at him. That was not what she was expecting him to say. “…what?”

“You heard me…I’m asking you to move in with me…”

“I thought…hold on—“ Elizabeth sits up on the bed, crossing her legs in front of her. Nick follows suit, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard. “I thought you didn’t believe in living together before marriage?” It was an off-hand remark he had made one time, but it was something that she had kept in mind.

“Yeah, I didn’t but…” Nick shrugs a shoulder. “Why, is this your way of telling me no?”

“No! No, no, no…” She answers quickly, dispelling any doubt that she was against the idea. She scoots in the bed, closer to Nick, throwing one of her legs over his lap. Leaning forward, she grasps his face between her hands, kissing him deeply. “Yeah,” She pulls back ever so slightly, smiling widely. “Yeah, I want to live with you.” Nick smiles widely before leaning forward again. His arms wind around her as their lips move as one. When one of them finally pull back, Elizabeth arches an eyebrow and tilts her head side-to-side. “But…I’m not moving in here…”

“What—“

Nick’s arms drop from around her as he gives her a mock-shocked look. “This is such a bachelor’s pad!” She says with a laugh. “There is no way—“

“So what? You want me to move into your place?” Nick says. Nick wasn’t a fan of where she lived, mainly because a neighbor hated him. Every time she passed by him in the hallway he swore that she was mumbling under her breathe that he was defiling Elizabeth, leading her down the path of sin. “Yeah…that ain’t happening.”

“Well then we get our own place.” She places her hands on his shoulders. “Some place brand new. Just ours.”

“A whole new place, huh?” Nick says. She nods her head, watching him carefully as he considers it. “What kind of place we thinking here?”

“It has to be two bedrooms.” Elizabeth says quickly. Naturally she already had specific requirements of where she was going to live; most of those requirements were already being met by the place she currently lived at. Nick raises an eyebrow in question. “In case we have visitors…you know, your parents…my brother…”

Nick nods his head. “Its gotta have parking there.” She nods her head in agreement. “I don’t want to have to run half a block when I get called in to work.”

“Of course, naturally.” She says. “And in-unit laundry would be a bonus.”

“Pet friendly? You know…for some day?” Elizabeth nods her head as she moves her arms up and drape them over Nick’s shoulders, her hands running over his closely shorn hair. “We really doing this?”

Elizabeth smiles as she nods her head. “Yeah, we’re really doing this…”


	12. Smash the Patriarchy

“Oh, I like the new place.” David says, making himself at home and flopping down on the couch after getting a tour the place. Elizabeth smiles a little as she sits down on the couch next to him. “Even if it is further away from my place.”

David was at finally getting to see his sister and Nick’s new apartment. Two months after deciding to do so, they were finally fully moved into the apartment. It is exactly what they were looking for; two bedrooms, parking for both of them, in-unit laundry, and it was even dog friendly. “Well I’m happy to have your approval.” Elizabeth says, slight sarcasm coloring her tone. “But, Bub…we gotta have _the talk_ …” David picks his head up off the cushion and raises an eyebrow at her. “This isn’t just my apartment…it’s mine and Nicks. So, you’re not going to just be able to come and go whenever you want.”

He lets out a loud, over-exaggerated groan. “I always knew this day would come…you’re picking another man over me…”

“Now David—“

“No, no, it’s fine.” He gets up, waving his hands in the air as he heads towards the front door. David wasn’t actually mad, he honestly just needed to leave for work. Yet, at the same time, there was a little sadness in the back of his mind. This was the first guy her sister had ever moved in with (he was still convinced they were getting married soon) and some small part of him felt like he was being left behind. “I’d pick Mr. sexy-ass-Texan-accent-CSI over my black bi-sexual adopted brother too…”

Elizabeth raises an eyebrow at him as she follows him to the front door. He opens the front door but turns back to face her before he walks out. “You know I still love you…”

“Yeah I know.” He says. “And hey…” He reaches out, grabbing her hand. “I’m happy for you…Mr. sexy-ass-Texan-accent-CSI is a good guy. You finally found one worthy of you.”

“Thanks Bub.” Elizabeth gives his hand a squeeze. “Love you ‘till beyond.”

“Love you ‘till beyond.” He says before leaving.

A couple hours later Nick gets home from work. He had virtually been absent from home, having to deal with a major shootout and the aftermath. “Hey…” Elizabeth calls out from the couch; she was in the middle of some research and didn’t want to lose her spot. Nick mumbles his greeting, trudging into the living room and falling into the arm chair. “Finally off the clock?”

“I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever been this tired after a case.” She glances over at him to see him slouched down in the chair, his head leaned back, and eyes shut. Just from the quick glance she could tell he was telling the truth; he looked absolutely exhausted.

“That’s what happens when you go basically three days without sleeping.” Elizabeth says. When she finally gets to a stopping place, she shuts the file she had been looking at. “You okay though? I know it was a tough one…” This case in particular had been profiled pretty heavily on the news.

“Yeah.” Nick answers unconvincingly. He opens his eyes and pushes himself out of the chair, moving to sit next to her on the couch. Elizabeth turns slightly to face him, folding one of her legs under her butt as he leans over to kiss her on the temple. “I gotta talk to you about something…my mom called.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” he says. Elizabeth raises an eyebrow and stifles a smile as he reaches down and flips open the file she had been looking at. He was always interested in whatever she was researching, sneaking glances at it but being careful not to disturb anything. He did not want to face her wrath if he got something out of order. “Sorry, anyway…she was wondering if we would like to come down for Thanksgiving.”

“Really?” Elizabeth balks.

“Yes ma’am,” he nods his head. “Whole family is gonna be there…all the sisters, my brother—“

“Are you trying to freak me out?” Elizabeth says as Nick lets out a sigh. “Cause you’re battin’ a thousand there buddy if you are—“

“I’m not trying to freak you out.” Nick says, all but rolling his eyes. “I’m just letting you know up front…so, what do you think? Go with me?”

Growing up it had only been her moms, David, and Elizabeth. Sometimes Anne’s parents would come around, but they lived in Washington state so they didn’t see them often. The family had been small; Nick’s family was very large. The thought of it was intimidating to Elizabeth. Family is important to Nick…important to Elizabeth too. So finally, she lets out a sigh. “Alright cowboy…take me to Texas.” Nick smiles as he pulls her in, kissing her sweetly. Elizabeth’s nose scrunches involuntarily as she pulls back after a second though. “Good _god_ man you gotta take a shower first though…”

* * *

 

“Christie, Sarah, Jane, Diane, and Jill are the sisters. And then William, a.k.a Bill, a.k.a Junior.” Elizabeth repeats for the thousandth time as the couple pull up to the Stokes ranch. She couldn’t just meet Nick’s family…she had to study them to prepare to meet them, true to her academic nature. Nick just nods his head patiently as he had done the entire plane ride and car ride.

“You got it.” Nick also says for the thousandth time. Nick was starting to get a little exasperated with her, but was never going to say anything. Even if she hadn’t convinced herself of it, he knew all of his family was going to love Elizabeth, just as he does. So, if repeating their names a million times calmed her down, he was going to let her.

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth says with a sigh. Nick puts the rental car in park after pulling up behind a line of vehicles. “I just don’t want to forget anyone’s names—I already hate that I don’t know the kids’ names—“

“You are going to be perfect.” Nick says. Elizabeth lets out a little whine, disagreeing with him, as he reaches over and grabs her hand in his. “Hey—you are. They are all gonna love you. You know my parents already do.” He was right. Jillian and William Stokes _really_ liked her. Sure, they were thrown a little at first by my family life; it was outside their circle of norm, but they considered themselves open-minded people and weren’t bothered by it at all once they really thought about it. She had really earned their stamp of approval after they saw how she handled Nick’s kidnapping. Elizabeth nods her head and mutters quietly that he’s right. That wide shit-eating grin Elizabeth loves so much makes an appearance on Nick’s face right before he leans over and kisses her quickly. “Come on. Whole crew is waiting.”

Nick and Elizabeth make their way to the front door, Nick carrying the bags; Elizabeth was too busy wringing her hands. A few of the Stokes children lived nearby, but the couple were staying at his parents’. When they reach the front door, Nick walks right in without even knocking. As soon as the door opens, the sound of children laughing and running around immediately fills the air. _“Uncle Nick!!”_ a few of the children spot him and make a beeline for him. They tackle his legs, a couple of them grabbing at his midsection. He immediately drops the bags, hugging and greeting them back. Elizabeth shuts the door behind her and stands back, feeling even more awkward now. Her eyes scan the large foyer, decorated to the nines and looking immaculate. One Nick’s nieces, Sarah, a blonde haired little girl about six years old, spots the brunette woman standing back and looking out of place, steps back from the dogpile on Uncle Nick and points a finger at her. “Who’s that Uncle Nick?”

The rest of the children also step back from Nick as he stands back up and turns to look back at Elizabeth. She takes that as her cue to step up next to Nick, wrapping one of her hands around his. “This is my girlfriend, Elizabeth…can y’all say hi to her?”

The kids all smile at her politely, but more amused at the fact that Uncle Nick brought a girl home. “Hi Miss Elizabeth…” they all chant in unison.

She gives them all a small wave, returning the sentiment. As one of the kids start to say something, Jillian Stokes comes into the foyer. “There they are!” she says in a sing-song voice. The three adults greet each other as Jillian pulls each into long hugs. The children all scatter, returning to whatever game they had been playing. “I’m so glad y’all made it here alright. Not everyone is here yet—Christie, Diane, and their crews will be here tomorrow. But come on in, get settled in—Nick, you can take the bags up to your room; Elizabeth, you can come in the kitchen with me and the other girls.” Neither one is able to get a word in before Jillian is pulling Elizabeth into the kitchen behind her. Before they disappear under the archway, Nick gives her a smirk and shakes his head. A small giggle from behind him breaks him of his trance. Turning back around, he sees that Sarah had watched the exchange, hiding behind the wall to the family room. With a finger pointed at her as a mock-warning not to be spying on adults, she covers her mouth, stifling another round of giggles before running off.

* * *

 

That night when Nick and Elizabeth finally retire to his childhood room, the woman lets out a sigh and crash on the bed. “How in the world do you handle _twelve_ nieces and nephews??” She was used to wrangling kids at work, with school field trips and such, but most of those were for a couple hours at most.

Nick lets out a laugh as she rubs at her temples. The children were adorable, all of them, but good gosh there were a lot of them. “And just think…today wasn’t even all of them.” Another groan escapes as she sits up, Nick grinning ear to ear. “They all love you by the way. Each and every one of those rascals.”

“They’re cute.” Elizabeth nods her head. She smirks as she nudges Nick in the ribs lightly. “They definitely don’t get that from Uncle Nick.”

“Hey now—“ Nick says in mock-offense. “Uncle Nick is their role model—“

“They just like using Uncle Nick as a jungle gym because he’s just as much of a kid as they are.” Nick shakes his head as he places an arm around her shoulder. They sit there for a few moments in silence, just relishing the quiet. It had been a long day. “Thank you for asking me to come with you.”

“Well thank you for coming with me.” Nick says, his breath tickling the top of her head. She looks around the room at the football and baseball trophies and medals riddling the walls. There were even a couple posters up. It was a little odd being back in his childhood room.

“You know…I was halfway expecting bikini-clad girls up on the walls…” Elizabeth says, looking that the Dallas Cowboys poster directly across from them.

“Don’t worry,” Nick says. His flippant tone causes her to look up at him to see that shit-eating grin again. “They were hanging in my dorm at college.”

* * *

 

If she had thought the day before was a tiresome day, Thanksgiving Day at the Stokes with a full house was a damn marathon. It was only one in the afternoon, they had not eaten the big meal yet, and Elizabeth was already ready for a nap. “Miss Elizabeth!” One of the little girls, Katie, comes running up to her in the kitchen, tugging on her apron. Jillian had stuck her on potato duty and she felt as if she had peeled enough to feed the Army. She pauses peeling to look down at the young girl, asking what she needed as her mom, Diane, tells her not to pull on Elizabeth’s apron. “Will you come play football with us?? We’re playing boys versus girls but we’re one girl short and Uncle Nick said you wouldn’t play but I think he’s wrong because he’s just afraid that we’ll crush the boys. So will you come play on our team?? _Please??”_

Her request comes out in a rush as she bounces up and down on the balls of her feet. Elizabeth can’t help but laugh a little. “Now, how am I supposed to turn down the chance to show up the patriarchy in a game that’s long been male-dominated…” Katie gives her a confused look as she removes the apron. “I—never mind. My answer is yes. You can ask your Uncle Nick what I meant by that later.” Katie gives a little cheer before grabbing the brunette’s hand and all but pulling her out of the kitchen and through the house to the backyard. When they reach the yard, she loudly announces to the group milling around that Elizabeth was playing. Nick and his brother Bill give her impressed looks as Bill’s fiancée, Sarah walks over towards her, giving her a high five and telling her she was glad someone else over five foot tall was playing. The four of them were the only adults playing, the rest were some of the children.

After a brief explanation of the rules from Nick (no tackling and two hand touch only) the players lined up and began playing. Naturally, Nick was solely in charge of covering Elizabeth just like Bill was covering Sarah. It was comical to watch, Jillian sneaking glances from the window over the sink. Elizabeth’s knowledge of the game was her saving grace, the only thing making her look halfway decent. Nick was obviously taking full advantage of being the sole person covering his girlfriend, grabbing her around the waist multiple times, lifting her in the air a couple times, and borderline ignoring the no tackle rule. Just as Katie had predicted, the girls easily won the game, largely in thanks to Sarah and the oldest niece Abby. When the game was finally called, Katie comes running over to Elizabeth with her hands in the air. “We did it Miss Elizabeth!” she cheers. Elizabeth lets out a laugh at her joy as Nick comes to stand beside her, one of his arms wrapping around her and his hand coming to rest on her hip. “We did it! We showed up the patriarchy!”

She covers her mouth to hide a loud snort of laughter; Nick however, lets out a howl of laughter. “What are you teaching my nieces?” he says as Katie runs off again. Elizabeth shrugs her shoulder, trying to play innocent as Jillian calls out the back door, asking Sarah and her to come help with the finishing touches on dinner.

* * *

 

“…and I’m also thankful for Miss Elizabeth teaching me about Alice Paul and how I should never let a man say I can’t do anything.” Sierra says, finishing her list of what she was thankful for.

Elizabeth’s cheeks turn red as everyone either laughs lightly or says how sweet her list was. “Your sisters are never going to let me around their children again…” She murmurs to Nick.

He responds by reaching under the table and giving her leg a gentle squeeze. His dad tells Nick that it’s his turn to tell what he’s thankful for this year. Everyone was pretty sure what Nick’s list would include, but they still are touched by his words, especially Elizabeth. “So, everyone knows that I haven’t exactly had a banner year.” The adults all nod their heads in agreement; the children knew something bad had happened to Nick, but none knew one hundred percent. “Yet at the same time this has been the best year of my life. Last October I was fortunate enough to meet this woman sitting next to me: Dr. Elizabeth Jansen. You all know her well enough by now to know she is way out of my league…yet, she’s stuck by me through everything this past year…my incident, the crazy hours I work, even coming home reeking of stuff you do not want to know about. So this year I am thankful for Elizabeth.”

Everyone around the room lets out a chorus of _“aww’s”_ and a couple people even clap. Elizabeth leans over and plants a kiss on Nick’s cheek, keeping it PG for the kids. “I love you Nick Stokes…”


	13. You Are Gonna Kill Me Woman...

Nick shut the case file, letting out a heavy sigh. He looked around the breakroom…oddly enough he had nothing to do. Sure, there was plenty of paperwork he could catch up on…but who wanted to do that? Grabbing his phone, he fired off a quick text to Elizabeth. It had been a couple weeks since their trip to Texas. Since returning, they had fallen into an easy routine. Right about now he figured she’d be at home on the couch, either reading a book or watching the news. Surprisingly though, she sent one back saying she was still at work. An eyebrow quirked up before Nick gathered his things and started heading towards the parking garage. Elizabeth had mentioned to him earlier that she would be working late but working past 11:00 at a museum seemed a little excessive, in his opinion.

When he arrived at the museum, he waited outside the front door until Max, the nighttime security guard, let him in. The two men exchanged pleasantries as Max walked Nick through the museum back towards Elizabeth’s office. Max and Nick had known each other when Max had worked for LVPD. When they finally reached Elizabeth’s office the two parted ways, Max continuing on with his rounds of the facility. “Hey sweetheart,” Nick said as he opened the door to Elizabeth’s office with a knock. She looked up at him, startled at first and then smiling at him.

“Hey yourself!” She waved a hand for him to come in as she stood from the desk. She quickly walked around the desk to him, placing her hands on his shoulders as he met her halfway to plant a kiss on her lips. When she pulled back from him, Nick placed a hand on the small of her back to keep her close to him. “What are you doing here? Thought you’d be working…”

“Slow night.” Nick answered. Elizabeth finally stepped back, walking back to her desk. Nick followed behind her, pulling a chair up to sit next to her behind the desk. He stared at the desk, letting out a silent chuckle. It was covered in old books…there had to be at least thirty piled on the desk. “Thought I would take advantage of it—what are you doing with all these books?”

“Well, the Las Vegas Historical Society donated about five hundred books from the 19th century to us a few months back.” Elizabeth explained. She grabbed a book, handing it to Nick. He gently opened the cover, peering inside. It was a first edition book written by Florence Nightingale. The book was in decent shape, but Nick still felt nervous holding it solely because of its age. “Sam has been working on putting them into our system but she took a month sabbatical to go see her family in New York—“

“So, you are picking up the slack?” Elizabeth nodded her head. The admission doesn’t surprise him; it was one of her biggest pet peeves when projects fell behind schedule.

“Yeah, I was going to stay late to get a couple extra done and I just lost track of time.” She leaned back in her chair, letting out a sigh. “I did a lot of collections work in undergrad. It’s oddly calming.” Nick asked her what exactly she had to do to get them in the system. “Well, I take a book, examine it to assess its condition. I take notes and then put those notes into the computer system.”

“Hmm,” Nick nodded his head, setting the book back on the desk. Not saying that their lines of work were anything alike, but this sounded a lot like what he did when examining evidence. “Want some help?” Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m serious! Here-“ Nick cleared a spot on the desk before pulling out his laptop from his bag. “Hook me up to your network, I’ll download the program you’re using and I’ll help you.” After a couple minutes of debate, Elizabeth conceded and set him up. The two worked in silent tandem for the next hour. Every now and then Nick had to ask what the technical term for something is, such as a type of discoloration of the pages or what a particular part of a book was referred to as. As it neared one in the morning Nick shut down his laptop. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat. And then you need to get home.”

Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement, also shutting down her system. Once they agree on a place to eat, they both bid Max goodnight and set off in separate vehicles; Nick following behind her car. “Oh my gosh,” Elizabeth said as she got out of her car. “Now that I’m out of the office…I’m so freaking tired.”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded his head. “That’ll happen when you work until one in the morning.”

“Um, excuse me Mr. Graveyard-Shift?” Elizabeth said. Nick shook his head in amusement as they entered the diner.

“Yeah, see the difference is that I sleep during the day to make up for it.” Nick said. Even though she was walking ahead of him he could tell by the little movement of her head that she was rolling her eyes. When they reached a booth, she gave him a sardonic grin. “I’m not the one who made you work late…don’t bite my head off for it.”

“Hmm…” Elizabeth folded her arms on the table before laying her head down on them. “You signed up for it buddy. Boyfriend means default punching bag for complaints.” Nick smiled, grabbing one of her hands a placing a kiss on the back of it. She turned her head slightly and looked up at him through her lashes. A little smile was peaking out from behind the other arm still on the table. The waitress came by then to take their orders. Once she left, the two pick up small talk, comparing their schedules for the rest of the week. “I know it’s still a few weeks away…but we should talk about plans for the holidays.”

It had briefly been mentioned on their way home from Thanksgiving, but they both knew that Nick would likely have to work on either Christmas or New Years. “I am game for whatever you have planned.” Nick conceded her. “Because Miss Making-Plans-Two-Months-in-Advance I know you already have something in mind…”

She stuck her tongue out at him as the waitress set their drinks down in front of them. “I do have something in mind. Since you possibly have to work one or both holidays, I figured David would just come over and we will celebrate when we can.” Nick nodded his head, agreeing with the plan. As much as it would drive her crazy, playing it by ear would be the best course of action. “We need to get a tree soon too. I’m already irked we don’t have one yet…”

Nick had already planned on picking one up on his way home after this shift. Christmas was a big deal for Elizabeth; on one of their early dates she had gushed to him how her moms had always made Christmas a huge deal in their household. Decorations for the holiday were promptly hung the day after Thanksgiving. Since they were in Texas, the couple weren’t able to partake in the tradition. “I know. We’ll get them put up this weekend…promise.”

Elizabeth smiled at him as she took a sip of her Coke. This was something she had been looking forward to for a while. He had missed her decorating her own place last year and had begrudgingly hung decoration after she discovered that he had not. They had spent the holiday apart the previous year, with their relationship still being newer. “As soon as you know when you’re working, you need to let me know.”

He nodded his head, assuring her that he will. When the food arrived, quiet settled over them as they eat. Nick stole quick glances at the woman sitting across from him when she wasn’t looking. The bags under her eyes were a little more pronounced than usual, tipping him off with just how tired she truly was. He was debating on whether or not to drive her home himself. Between bites, Elizabeth asked him about his co-workers and how they were faring. “Since we’re all settled in, I thought maybe we could have Warrick and Tina over for dinner. What do you think?”

“I think that would be a great idea.” She agreed. “You know…if you can actually get Warrick to agree to it.”

Nick let out a snort of laughter. It was true that his friend and teammate was pretty secretive about his personal life; getting him to agree to a dinner like that may be a bit of a challenge. Once they were finished eating and the bill paid up, the two made their way out to their vehicles. Instead of climbing in, Elizabeth leaned against her car door as Nick stood in front of her. “Well, while I don’t usually condone ditching work…I had fun tonight.”

“Hey now,” Nick took a step forward, standing flush against her and placing his hands on her hips. “I did not ditch work. I had permission—“

“Yeah, yeah,” Elizabeth smiled as she grabbed onto his jacket to pull his lips down to hers. They stood there, making out like a couple of teenagers. The sound of Nick’s pager finally broke them apart though, far sooner than either of them would have liked.

He let out a heavy sigh as he checked it, Elizabeth still peppering his jawline with kisses. “I gotta go…419 across town…” A quiet moan formed in the back of his throat as she moved down to his neck. “You are gonna kill me woman…”

Elizabeth chuckled, finally pulling back. “Good thing I’m dating a CSI then…” Nick raised an eyebrow, not sure how the two are correlated. She flippantly held a hand in the air as she lightly pushed him back with the other. “So, then I’d know how to properly hide the body…”

A loud laugh erupted from Nick as he reached behind her and opened her car door. He shook his head at the thought, Elizabeth trying to hide a body. The image was quite funny, but he had to admit to himself that if it came down to it, with how meticulous and organized she was, she would probably be pretty good at it. “Alright killer, I need to get going—“ He leaned down into the car to share one more drawn-out kiss. “Text me when you get home…just so I know you didn’t fall asleep at the wheel.”

She gave him a tiny, mock salute as pulled the safety belt across her lap. “Tell the LVPD CSI team hello from me.” Nick nodded his head telling her that he would. “Love you…”

“Love you too.” Once the car door is shut she blew him another kiss through the window before starting to drive the car away. Nick watched her car for a moment before heading to his Tahoe. He smiled to himself as he climbed in, damn glad that he ditched work. As he put the vehicle in drive, his cell phone rings. “Yeah, hey Cath,” he answered. “I’m on my way…”


End file.
